INDIANAPOLIS — At the start of 2026, trash collection in Indianapolis switched to a new vendor, Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS). The trash transition has been a little tricky for residents and the Indianapolis Department of Public Works (DPW).
"We knew it was going to be bumpy," said Kyle Bloyd, Chief Communications Officer for Indy DPW. "This kind of thing hasn't been done in the city for decades of a big solid waste vendor change."
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Before the transition, new trash bins were delivered to Indianapolis residents. This process began in October.
Following the delivery of these new, gray colored bins, old trash bins were also collected from residents.
The old bins were blue Republic bins or green Waste Management bins.
This collection process is where things got tricky for DPW.
"We had a vendor do multiple passes across the entire county late in the year," Bloyd said. "We still got some to pick up. As of early December, we had something along the lines of like 130,000 carts collected, out of, you know, some around 155,000 total."
Craig McDaniel lives on a block that is still lined with the old blue trash bins.
"They're here every day, because we never know when they're coming," McDaniel said.
McDaniel and his neighbors have kept their old bins out for months, hoping they'll be collected.
"It's very inefficient, because they come by and think that they're full, and they keep trying to empty them," McDaniel continued.
If you still have an old trash bin that needs to be collected, you can report it using the Mayor's Action Center. The phone number is 317-327-4622.
Now that service has switched over to LRS, some neighbors have seen missed or delayed trash pickups.
DPW is asking for patience until the new providers fall into a more routine trash collection schedule.
"They've been able to retain some drivers from the previous vendors, but they've had to do a lot of hiring too," Bloyd explained. "Get these people up to speed on the equipment and the routes."
Bloyd shared that heavy trash service with LRS did not start until the second week of January, so heavy trash pickups have also gotten backlogged in some neighborhoods.
"We need to kind of pick up where the old vendors left off as well," Bloyd said. "The LRS drivers are covering a whole lot of mileage. We know we've got some work ahead of us. Be patient, stick with us. We believe in LRS and their ability to sort out these issues and get everything to normal as quick as they can."
McDaniel put the issues back in perspective.
"There's lots of things going wrong with the world, so this is kind of minor in my view," said McDaniel.
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