Fort Worth saw fewer missed trash collections in the past few months as city officials continue to address a months of resident complaints.
Between July and December 2025, the city reported a monthly average of about 2,200 missed residential trash collections, according to data collected by Fort Worth officials. That is down slightly from the monthly average of about 2,500 missed pickups between January and June of last year.
Residential pickups include garbage, recycling and yard waste.Â
Missed trash collections went up slightly late in the summer, reaching more than 3,000 failed attempts to collect trash in the month of September, before missed attempts dipped to about 1,800 in October.
The updates come after Fort Worth officials said in August they were working with WM — the company contracted by the city to make 3.5 million trash collections a month — in an effort to improve services.Â
For several months between 2023 and 2024, residents complained to Fort Worth leaders about missed collections and poor quality of service.
In a meeting from August, Fort Worth environmental services staffers said WM was in the process of repairing dozens of service trucks to reduce numbers of missed collections.
Other improvements include modified routes and city staff receiving daily updates from WM regarding any missed trash pickups.
A Jan. 27 report to City Council members stated eight of its environmental services staffers are stationed at trash drop-off stations to assist WM crew members with improving response times and resolving resident complaints when they arise.
WM took over all of the city’s waste collection routes in Dec. 2024 after City Council members approved eliminating the minority- and women-owned business requirement in its waste management contract in May 2024.Â
Under the requirement, WM was responsible for subcontracting with a minimum of 25% minority-owned businesses.
Council members said at the time of the vote that removing the requirement would reduce resident complaints and make pickup operations more efficient for WM.
Between October 2023 and March 2024, before WM took over all routes, there was a monthly average of 1,600 missed trash collections each month, city staffers reported.Â
After the contract was amended, missed residential trash collections averaged 2,500 monthly between June 2024 and January 2025.
That increase in missed trash collections was due to the transition WM underwent to take on all pickup routes after the minority business requirement was cut, city leaders previously said.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.Â
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