Republic ends trash pickup for 1,300 Oceana customers.

September 21, 2018

Republic ends trash pickup for 1,300 Oceana customers.

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor.

OCEANA COUNTY – Republic Services of Jenison is ceasing trash pickup for 1,300 Oceana County residences by the end of next week.

Several of those affected by the discontinuation of garbage pickup are scrambling to find an alternative service.

“Republic Services is in the process of making collection service changes in Oceana County,” states Republic’s media relations department via an email message. “We have contacted 1,300 residential customers letting them know that we will no longer be servicing their area as of Sept. 29.

“The change, which only affects residential customers, is due to low levels of participation in the area,” the email states. “As the notification letter stated, any prepayment made by customers will be refunded directly to them.

“Republic continues to service accounts in other parts of Oceana County. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the residents of Oceana County, and apologize for any inconvenience the change may cause.”

A letter to customers dated Sept. 6 states: “Please be advised due to the recent market service changes and the cost of operating collections in this area, we can no longer provide your current waste collection services.”

The letter provides a list of five other garbage service providers that customers can contact to obtain garbage collection services, including Mark’s Waste Removal in New Era; Son’s Disposal in Shelby; RMS Recycling and Disposal in Fruitport; Kuerth Disposal in Twin Lake; and A-Waste in Grant.

Of the two local companies, one is currently taking on new customers. Mark’s Waste Removal can be contacted at 231-861-8470, although the company is receiving an “abundant amount of phone calls,” its voicemail greeting states. Callers are asked to text their information and questions due to the heavy volume of calls. They can also leave their contact information in the company’s voicemail inbox.

“We understand one of the major waste removal services has stopped many locations in our area,” states the voicemail greeting for Mark’s Waste Removal.

Son’s Disposal regrettably cannot take on any more customers at this time, its voicemail greeting states, “due to the influx of Republic customers.” Son’s says to back check in at the start of each quarter to see if spaces become available.

OCP contacted the other three garbage companies listed in the letter, and they do not service Oceana County.

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