No recycling pickup for months at Miami Gardens neighborhood – until NBC6 got involved

Homeowners in South Florida are accustomed to having recycling pickup every two weeks. In one Miami Gardens neighborhood, residents say it’s been more than two months since their recycling bins have been emptied. 

“No recycling pickup whatsoever, no recycling pickup whatsoever, we have called and called, every two weeks I called them and nothing has been resolved," said Vivian Gonzalez, a resident of the King’s Garden neighborhood. 

Gonzalez says she dialed Miami-Dade County’s 311 helpline multiple times but nothing changed. Rainstorms made everything worse, filling up the bins. 

“My husband had to turn the thing over because it was full of water and the amount of mosquitoes was terrible,” she said. 

One of Gonzalez’s neighbors resorted to hauling his recycling out of the neighborhood. 

“Sometimes I take it to the other house I have – from there they pick it up every week,” said Victor Irehada. 

But on Wednesday, all of a sudden, the recycling was picked up. 

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“Because you guys called, you guys are amazingly incredible!” Gonzalez said. 

NBC6 On Your Side called the recycling company and the county’s solid waste department when we heard from our viewers. This morning, the recycling truck from Coastal Waste and Recycling showed up and picked up. 

“Well it is a hundred percent relief to me and I really pray to God that it continues to be picked up in the orderly manner that it’s supposed to be picked up every two weeks,” Gonzalez said. 

Coastal Waste and Recycling told us in a statement that they were investigating the issue but did not say what caused the long delay in recycling pickup. The county’s solid waste department did not reply to our calls or emails, but for now, all is good in the neighborhood. The trash talk from the residents is over.