Dedicated Illegal Dumping Collection Program

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) offers waste management services to more than 340,000 households in Miami-Dade County, including bulky waste collection service. The Trash Division provides both bulky waste collection service and collection of illegally dumped waste, with the DSWM Code Enforcement Division identifying illegal dumping hotspots throughout unincorporated Miami-Dade County. Due to the growing number of bulky waste service requests, the turnaround time for bulky collection—a departmental performance measure—could be negatively impacted. Servicing illegal dumping would come at the expense of bulky waste collection. To avoid an increase in overtime to meet demand and prevent a reduction in customer satisfaction, it was determined that collection activities should be handled by crews dedicated to either bulky waste or illegal dumping rather than all crews responding to both. In late 2017, a pilot program instituted where a designated crew would only service illegal dumping service requests. An evaluation of the pilot showed that having crews dedicated to solely providing illegal dumping service meant better turnaround times for the collection of illegal dumping as well as bulky waste piles. This change positively impacted both the illegal dumping and the bulky waste operations.