.tnt-restrict-img-13d23587-0800-5dc9-845c-687ced2597ff { max-width: 276px; }
The City of Orangeburg will temporarily suspend its recycling services beginning Monday, Oct. 18, due to a shortage of drivers.
The shortage is due to the lack of qualified applicants, City Public Works Director Dean Felkel said.
“Positions require drivers with a commercial driver’s license,” Felkel said. “There is currently a shortage of CDL drivers.”
The city’s residential sanitation department has five employees, but ideally needs 11 to adequately staff the department.
The department currently has six open positions, Felkel said.
Felkel said the department can realistically collect the city’s garbage, yard debris and recyclables with 10 full-time employees. The department needs a minimum of two employees for its recycling program.
The city has tried to address the shortage in a number of ways, including advertising, reaching out to local technical schools for CDL drivers, using temporary help to work on the back of trucks and pulling other CDL drivers from the commercial sanitation side, Felkel said.
Felkel said he is not sure when the recycling program will return.
“Once we are able to fill several of the open positions with qualified candidates, preferably with a CDL,” he said.
The city recycles newspaper, aluminum, glass and plastic.
During the suspension of services, individuals are encouraged to take their recyclables to private and county collection sites.
The city will let residents know when services will resume.
For more information, call 803-533-6010.
#pu-email-form-daily-email-article { clear: both; background-color: #fff; color: #222; background-position: bottom; background-repeat: no-repeat; padding: 15px 20px; margin-bottom: 40px; border-top: 4px solid rgba(0,0,0,.8); border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.2); display: none; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article, #pu-email-form-daily-email-article p { font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, “Apple Color Emoji”, “Segoe UI Emoji”, “Segoe UI Symbol”; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article h1 { font-size: 24px; margin: 15px 0 5px 0; font-family: “serif-ds”, Times, “Times New Roman”, serif; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article .lead { margin-bottom: 5px; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article .email-desc { font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; opacity: 0.7; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article form { padding: 10px 30px 5px 30px; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article .disclaimer { opacity: 0.5; margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 100%; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article .disclaimer a { color: #222; text-decoration: underline; } #pu-email-form-daily-email-article .email-hammer { border-bottom: 3px solid #222; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; padding: 0 10px 5px 10px; margin-bottom: -5px; font-size: 16px; } @media (max-width: 991px) { #pu-email-form-daily-email-article form { padding: 10px 0 5px 0; } }