Blizzard interrupts collection routes

A cold weather front bringing snow and ice to the Midwestern and eastern United States is poised to delay waste and recycling collection activities in several metropolitan areas.

“A cross-country winter storm moving across parts of the Midwest, Tennessee Valley and Ohio Valley is expected to bring major impacts and hazardous travel conditions to major mid-Atlantic cities,” AccuWeather says in an email to media contacts Sunday, Jan. 5.

The storm moved through the Midwest the weekend of Jan. 4-5, and the blizzard closed the Kansas City International Airport for part of the weekend.

By Sunday evening, officials from Kansas City, Missouri, announced refuse would not be collected in the city Monday, Jan. 6, and Tuesday, Jan. 7.

As the storm moved east into Indiana, the city of Evansville and its hauling contractor Republic Services announced Sunday the would not conduct waste and recycling collection routes Monday, Jan. 6.

With AccuWeather predicting the winter storm to bring "disruptive and dangerous" impacts to millions of people in the Mid-Atlantic, officials in that region began announcing measures to cancel or postpone collection routes.

The Department of the Environment in Prince George’s County in northern Maryland announced Sunday it will suspend organics/compost and yard trim collection in the county Monday, Jan. 6, and all bulky, scrap tires or white goods scheduled for collection Monday will be rescheduled.

The Department of Public Works in nearby Washington made a similar announcement, citing forecasted snow and inclement winter weather conditions for its decision to cancel leaf collection in eight wards of Washington Jan. 6.