After some cities in Johnson County experienced trash pickup unreliability in the past couple of years, Overland Park is studying the status of waste hauling across its city.
Currently, Overland Park lets organized neighborhoods and individual residents handle their solid waste management — which includes recycling, trash, yard waste, etc. — by contracting out to private haulers. That means many different types of haulers remove trash and recycling in the city.
With the study, the city is looking to get a better understanding of “the big picture” when it comes to the status of those services and ways to potentially improve the approach for residents when it comes to things like cost and sustainability, said Lara Isch, the city’s sustainability manager.
“Our residents have reached out, and many of them have said that they’re not happy with the way things are going,” Isch said.
The hope, she said, is to gather data and input to better understand “the lay of the land” and get “a realistic picture of what’s actually happening across the city.”
Overland Park isn’t alone. After issues with trash hauling popped up in several Johnson County cities, Merriam took steps recently to address those concerns in its own city by going to a single citywide trash hauler.
How you can weigh in on the trash study:
As part of the Comprehensive Solid Waste Study, Overland Park is seeking input from the public about their thoughts on the current system, as well as potential solutions.
That includes:
- An in-person open house with a presentation from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Matt Ross Community Center.
- A virtual open house with a presentation from 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. Find out more here.
- An online survey that’s open through Dec. 15. Take that here.
Overland Park started the study earlier this year
After signaling a desire to conduct the solid waste management study for some time, Overland Park officially commenced it over the summer.
So far, Isch said, Overland Park has already determined that residents who contract with trash haulers independently are paying significantly more for the service than residents who benefit from a homeowners association’s involvement.
She also said the city has learned that some areas of the city only have one hauler working in their area, which limits their options if they’re dissatisfied with their service.
The study itself is expected to last into next year, with a presentation to the Overland Park City Council tentatively planned for June 2026. From there, the city council would likely be asked to make a decision on potential changes or further discuss any recommendations that the resulting study might have.
Overland Park is also working on an emergency trash hauling pilot
In addition to the solid waste study, Overland Park has also looked at a pilot program to ensure that residents whose trash pickup is delinquent have another option as a backup.
The idea is to have an on-call backup trash pickup service that can go around the city if neighborhoods are missed on their trash day to cut down on the amount of trash sitting and waiting on curbs.
Under the pilot, a resident, neighborhood or HOA leader would need to make a nuisance complaint with the city, either through the city’s OP Cares webpage dedicated to trash hauling issues or by phone.
If the trash hasn’t been picked up by the six-business-day mark following the contracted pickup day, then it is considered delinquent in city codes. On that day, if neighbors verify that the trash still has not been picked up, then the backup haulers would be activated.
Isch said the city still intends to run that pilot program in the future, but for now, “there’s sort of a pin in it” as staff work through some logistics.
Looking back: Trash pickup delays spread across Johnson County
