March 19, 2020 – Waste Management is continuing curbside collections with the same routes and schedules. However, local offices, and most recycling buyback centers and household hazardous waste drop off sites will be closed to the public throughout California and Nevada by Monday, March 23.

Most transfer stations remain open to process trash from customers who self-haul and material resource facilities that sort recycling Waste Management collects curbside remain open in Northern California.

Customers are encouraged to visit wm.com/alerts for detailed and up-to-date information about closures in their area.

“The health and safety of our employees and the community is our top priority,” said Barry Skolnick, Waste Management Area Vice President for Northern California-Nevada. “It is critical that we all maintain social distancing and reduce needless trips, so as a result we will close all of our offices and buy-back centers to the public. This closure does not affect curbside collections.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are not calling for any additional steps to handle trash or recycling. Waste handling is not a disease pathway and has not been identified as needing any special precaution by the WHO or CDC. Waste Management continues to monitor this daily for any additional recommendations or changes from the CDC.

All employees handling any waste or recycling are instructed to follow company safety procedures, including wearing proper gloves and eye protection. New procedures were created at our facilities to ensure social distancing and the elimination of group meetings. Employees not required to be on site, are working from home.

As leaders in our highly regulated industry, Waste Management follows strict policies and procedures every day when managing solid waste, including medical waste, to protect our employees, our customers and the communities we serve. We will continue to follow all our protocols and perform our work with the utmost care.

We understand that these needs are evolving and therefore, we have a dedicated Task Force focused on continuing to build on our business continuity plan. Any service changes in the local communities will be communicated via wm.com/alerts. Customers are also encouraged to sign up for automatic alerts online at wm.com/mypreferences.