LA sees spike in reports of illegal dumping amid coronavirus pandemic, data shows
L.A. city data shows requests to remove illegally dumped, bulky or electronic waste, as well as household appliances increased nearly 19% in the first seven months of 2020.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The average Angeleno will tell you, it's not uncommon to see garbage, dirty sofas and neglected refrigerators dumped alongside freeways and busy streets.
Los Angeles city numbers show 311 requests to remove illegally dumped, bulky or electronic waste, as well as household appliances increased nearly 19% in the first seven months of 2020 compared to the same period last year.
"It's out of control," said Errol Segal from the Active Recycling Company in L.A. "They don't want to pay the fee to dump it, so they dump it in an alley or on a vacant lot."
May and June numbers increased about 30% from the same months in 2019, according to an ABC7 analysis of the 311 data.
In fact, item removal requests saw the highest increases of all known types of 311 requests. Illegally dumped pickup requests increased nearly 8%, bulky item removal requests increased 17%, electronic waste removal requests increased 31% and household appliance removal requests increased 36%.
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Meanwhile, requests about streetlight issues decreased about 22% from 2019.
Not surprisingly, coronavirus may be to blame.
More time at home may mean more home projects, or an extended spring cleaning.
As of Aug. 17, the Sun Valley neighborhood council area had the most requests for illegal dumping pickups at 2,901 requests. The Empowerment Congress Southeast neighborhood council area had the highest number of total item removal requests and the highest number of bulky item removal requests.
Sylmar had the most requests for electronic waste removal and household appliance removal.
Want to see this 311 requests map in a larger window? Click here
Now, Segal is working to help clean up the city. He said he enjoys helping families save money and will take your trash and recyclables for free.
"I decided to let people bring in up to 500 pounds of unwanted trash and dump it for free," he said.
Active Recycling Company LA is open seven days a week, from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
No liquid or food waste is allowed. After the first trash dump, you will be charged $50 for up to 600 pounds.
