As of Jan. 3, Buncombe County’s new residential trash hauler had delivered nearly 76,000 trash carts to subscribers, an FCC Environmental representative told the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners at a briefing meeting Jan. 7.
That means that carts have been delivered to 38,500 residents, including all of those on previous hauler WastePro’s list, said Charles Merkley, director of municipal sales for FCC.
Complaints, however, have continued to percolate through the community. Residents filed nearly 400 complaints to Buncombe County in the first week of January, according to county records. After FCC took over Jan. 1, Buncombe County spokesperson Stacey Wood acknowledged at a briefing Jan. 6 that the company had missed some residents and worked through the first weekend of 2025 to catch up. Several people took to social media to complain about missed pickups, trash carts that had yet to be delivered and long wait times on calls to FCC’s customer service line.
“As we go through, we’re finding some carts people think they didn’t get, end up being at neighbors’. That’s part of a transition,” Merkley told commissioners via a Zoom call at the Jan. 7 meeting. “Overall, you look for perfection, but you can’t always get perfection,” he added in a call to Xpress Jan. 13.
Jim Gallagher, a resident of Fairview near Garren Creek, one of the region’s hardest-hit areas by Tropical Storm Helene, sent commissioners an email Jan. 10 to complain about the poor service. He said the Garren Creek and Craig Town areas of Fairview had not received trash collection by FCC in either of the first two weeks of the year. Repeated calls to the company’s call center have resulted in long wait times and little action, he told Xpress Jan. 10.
On a call Jan. 10 to FCC, Gallagher said he was told by a representative that it has been a “rough transition” from WastePro and the earliest he should expect service is Tuesday, Jan. 14.
In a response email to Gallagher, Commissioner Martin Moore said that the county has received numerous complaints from Fairview and particularly Garren Creek, and he has asked County Manager Avril Pinder to emphasize the need for service in areas that have been missed by FCC.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention; while frustrating, it helps a great deal that you made your concern known so that we can take appropriate action in our dealings and contract with FCC,” Moore added.
Gallagher followed up to say FCC did make a pass in the Garren Creek area Jan. 13, and FCC officials told him they planned to be back for regular pickup in the area on Thursday.
“It appears that FCC has a plan and [is] working the plan. This is good news and a step in the right direction, and hopefully other Fairview FCC customers are seeing the same results,” he said.
Commissioner Terri Wells asked several questions of Merkley and Mitch Dahlstrom, FCC’s regional vice president, about some of the other complaints at the Jan. 7 meeting, including that residents are having trouble getting through to the company’s call center.
Dahlstrom said FCC is onboarding three new employees to help in the call center, and seven regional drivers will remain in the area through Friday, Jan. 24. Additionally, a route manager, fleet manager and several manufacturer technicians are on hand through Friday, Jan. 17, to help with issues as they arise. Eleven additional regional and corporate managers are on rotation through the end of the month and may extend their stay, if needed.
Overall, Dahlstrom said the first three days of service “went well” and were completed by midday Jan. 5 due to snow and ice on the roads.
FCC uses in-house call centers, and has increased its capacity to 30 operators to help with the volume, Merkley said.
Wells also asked Merkley to address a common complaint with trash haulers — that they were mixing recycling in with the trash.
“We use separate vehicles for recycling and trash. Separate routes done by separate trucks. We take all recycling to [Curbside Management] in Woodfin. We have heard of no mixing,” Merkley said.
If residents have issues with trash collection, they should call FCC customer service at 828-820-7022.
If customers have questions about Waste Pro’s ongoing cart removal, representatives are available at 828-585-5074.
If you’re unsuccessful reaching either company or cannot get your issue resolved, Buncombe County is operating a solid waste issue tracker at buncombecounty.org/solidwaste.
This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing.
This is an absolute bold faced lie. I’ve signed up and given my credit card and still no can. Today when I called to inquire, I was caller 46 in the queue with an estimated wait time of 23 minutes. Trashy people….
Agreed. They delivered the blue bin, but not the green bin. Six tickets reporting that, and still no green bin. Also, third week and no trash pick up. I called and they have my information and I’m supposed to be getting it picked up.
This week I may begin dropping my trash off downtown in front of a government building…
Waste Pro still hasn’t picked up their old trash carts. At this point I’m guessing they have no intention to do so.
100% not true. I still have old cans, both recycling and trash that I don’t live in a rural area of the city. I’m right off Patton Ave
No cans delivered. No trash or recycling for 2 weeks. Not holding my breath for tomorrow. 2 escalated tickets. Several emails sent but no response. As a new resident it is disappointing. But then again, they never processed my payment either from 3 weeks ago. Time to find a private service.
Brilliant business model: if they don’t deliver the cans, then they don’t have to pick up the trash.