5280 Waste Solutions Adapting to COVID-19

The waste industry provides an essential service. For the drivers at our sister company 5280 Waste Solutions, taking every precaution is their way of staying on the road to keep hauling waste. The team is staying healthy, and they are keeping the community safe. Once that’s taken care of it is business as usual.

 “We reassure you, we’re open for business," Tommy Atencio says. He is the lead driver supervisor with 5280 Waste Solutions. The drivers are self-isolated in their trucks. Every morning at 5:30 am the drivers line up while keeping a safe distance from each other. Tommy hands them a bag with disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, rubber gloves, and a spray bottle with bleach. "Our drivers are careful, and our trucks are sanitized,” he says.

New habits to do their part:

“We don’t talk to anyone,” Tommy's team calls the landfill employees for the information instead of talking through a window to help limit their exposure to others to practice social distancing.

The driver sprays the dumpster’s handle with a bleach based product so the resident can open the handle without worry. “We are keeping our dumpsters sanitized for the community,” Tommy said.

What have you noticed in the community?

With more people staying indoors some residents are cleaning out their basement or their garage. Some people are completing the yard work they were neglecting, or finally doing some home renovations. These projects need dumpsters, so Tommy has noticed an increase in dumpster rentals for residents.

Tommy's final thoughts:

“We’re pushing on. These are the local guys out here, doing their part,” Tommy says. These changes have led to the team distancing themselves from one another, but they are still coming together for the betterment of their community.

For more commentary from our sister company 5280 Waste Solutions, read this blog post on roll off best practices.