By Mark Woolsey

Complaints about trash haulers in Cobb County appear to have dropped significantly after reaching a fever pitch in 2022, a development that drew plaudits from the Board of Commissioners at this week’s work session.

“The complaints to me and I assume the other commissioners up here have drastically reduced from a couple of years ago, when we were fielding a lot daily,” said District Three Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

Garbage Haulers Association of Cobb County President Brian Warren told the commission that only one complaint has been submitted to the CobbTrashHelp.com website in 2025, after five were registered in 2024.

In another metric, Warren addressed the troubled American Disposal Services, the target of such frequent complaints as missed pickups and other service concerns. American was getting about 1,000 calls a day(some of  them complaints). With American having been acquired by Waste Connections and a new manager and rebranding in place, total calls have dropped to about 250 a day, he said.

“And they haven’t haven’t had to cancel or had any missed routes in more than seven months,” he added.

Commission chair Lisa Cupid hailed the developments as great news.

“A few years ago, we had packed rooms of people who were not happy about a lot of the hauling service in the county, “ she said. “We came together, we had a tough conversation to see what we could produce and today is a testament to that.”

Back in 2022, the county considered dividing pickup into four zones, with one hauler being selected to provide service to each zone. That plan was scrapped after considerable pushback from residents.

In another instance of forward motion, Warren reported that “since last year at this time, there are three or four new haulers, new providers actively marketing in underserved zip codes,” where just one or two haulers had been providing service.

“Competition has significantly improved service in those areas,” Warren said, adding that the environment regarding sanitation in Cobb is the best it’s been in several years.

Jatunn Gibson, Agency Director for Public Services at Cobb County, said the county is served by 17 permitted trash companies who pick up garbage from the 232,000 households in  unincorporated areas. Ten of them are members of the haulers group, which has served as a go-between for the county and the waste haulers.