County delays trash pickup in Līhue, Puhi and Kekaha due to staffing issues
Trash pickup in Līhue, Puhi and Kekaha slipped because of staffing shortages, and households were told to leave bins out if crews had not come by 3:30 p.m.
Residents in Līhue, Puhi and Kekaha were told to keep their trash carts at the curb Monday if pickup had not happened by 3:30 p.m., after the County of Kauai said residential collection in those areas was delayed because of staffing issues. The county said crews were expected to finish the remaining routes Tuesday, May 19, and directed households with questions or missed service to call 808-241-4841 or email solidwaste@kauai.gov.
The notice was narrowly targeted to three parts of the island, but the instructions were simple for anyone waiting on the truck: do not assume the route is done until the bin has been emptied. That matters in Kauai County, where refuse collection is once a week and missed service can leave a household waiting several days for the next pass. The county’s Solid Waste Division, part of the Public Works Department, says its job is to provide reliable and sustainable refuse collection, recycling, transfer and disposal systems for solid waste management on Kauai.
The delay also put a spotlight on how often basic collection is being disrupted. The county has issued similar trash-delay notices multiple times in 2025 and 2026, including advisories on April 13, 2026, December 10, 2025, and September 18, 2025. Those repeated notices, often tied to staffing or equipment problems, suggest the May 18 delay was part of a larger service problem rather than an isolated missed route.
Kauai County’s waste system is built around weekly collection and a Pay As You Throw model known as the Residential Refuse Collection Assessment. Ordinance 975 passed in October 2014 and took effect in July 2015. The county says a 64-gallon refuse cart costs $10 a month and a 96-gallon cart costs $18 a month, with no holiday change in the pickup schedule. The recycling office lists 808-241-4841 and solidwaste@kauai.gov as the main contact for solid waste questions, and county materials say Kauai’s recycling rate is 43%, above the national average of 35%.
For households in Līhue, Puhi and Kekaha, the immediate question was not policy but whether to leave the cart out or bring it back in. The county’s answer on Monday was clear: keep it out if service had not arrived, and expect crews to return Tuesday.
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