Greensboro sanitation workers win top honors at state competition
Greensboro’s sanitation crew turned a Fayetteville skills contest into a rare public test of the workers who keep trash, recycling and street sweeping on schedule.
When Greensboro sanitation work goes right, residents usually do not notice it. When it goes wrong, the costs show up fast in missed pickups, extra calls and strained crews. Six City of Greensboro Solid Waste & Recycling employees just gave the department a public proof point at the 2026 NC SWANA Road-E-O in Fayetteville.
Jessica Lynch finished first in wheel loader. Andrew Schill took first in mechanic. Andrew Subotnik also finished first in wheel loader. Josh Merritt placed third in dozer, while Ronnie Bullins earned honorable mention in wheel loader and Justin Figueroa received honorable mention in rear loader. Lewis Walker and Marcus Nichols served on the NC Road-E-O planning committee, giving Greensboro a hand not only in competition but also in staging the event.
The Road-E-O, hosted by the North Carolina chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America, is an annual skills contest for truck drivers, heavy-equipment operators and mechanics in the solid waste industry. NC SWANA says the event is dedicated to the men and women who are the backbone of that work, while SWANA says the international competition is meant to promote skill and safety. First-place winners from Fayetteville will advance to the SWANA International Road-E-O in St. Louis this fall.
For Greensboro, the results point to more than bragging rights. The city’s Solid Waste & Recycling Department handles trash, recycling, yard waste, bulk items, electronics, appliances and hazardous items. It also takes on litter pickup, dead animal pickup and street sweeping, a mix of duties that touches daily life across Guilford County’s largest city.
The city’s services directory lists trash collection and appliance disposal as direct city services, underscoring how often residents depend on this workforce. In a department where equipment, training and timing all matter, a strong showing at a state competition suggests the city has employees who can operate under pressure and do the job cleanly.
That matters for service reliability and for the public ledger. Crews that are trained, tested and retained are better positioned to keep collection routes moving and avoid the disruptions that can ripple through neighborhoods and business districts. Greensboro’s latest performance in Fayetteville showed a municipal operation that is not just hauling waste, but building technical depth in a hard-to-staff line of work.
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