COVID-19 Surge May Be Behind Rancho Santa Margarita Trash Pileup

Andy Nguyen
·1 min read

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA — The latest surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant has led to an unexpected issue in Rancho Santa Margarita: growing piles of trash around town.

CR&R Environmental Services, which provides trash and recycling collection for Rancho Santa Margarita and several other Orange County cities, announced this month that it's experiencing staffing shortages brought on by the rise in COVID-19 cases.

"Many of our employees, across all disciplines, are unable to carry out their regular duties as a result of their infections," the company said in a statement. "This has resulted in long wait times on the telephone and delayed trash and recycling collection."

The company will attempt to return the next day to a neighborhood if it misses a collection day.

Residents should not call CR&R unless it has been more than 24 hours since their trash and recycling were supposed to be collected, the company said.

This article originally appeared on the Rancho Santa Margarita Patch