Description

Watch what goes into cleaning up after a large-scale event in Charlotte. The Solid Waste Services' Special Services Division works overnight to make the magic happen. (A full transcript is available below.)


“When we get that feedback, ‘You guys done a great job,’ you know, that’s a big bonus for everybody,” says Solid Waste Services crew member Bobby Barrino.
“Right now, we’re at Fourth and Tryon doing the final cleanup, not the final cleanup, but the end-of-night cleanup for Pride Fest 2019,” says David Poindexter.
“Tonight, I got about 17; 17 people on the ground either dumping trash, blowing off the sidewalk with the backpack leaf blowers, street sweeping, litter control.”
Let’s break it down by the numbers.
Solid Waste Services cleans up after big events like Panthers games, parades and festivals.
That includes more than 50 events a year.
Each event produces nearly 20,000 pounds of trash.
And the City of Charlotte is here to clean it up.
“The end game for tonight is to make it look like nobody was even here today.”
“I’ve picked up pocketbooks, shoes, money … a lot of stuff. That’s all I can say. A lot of stuff.”
“I put it this way, it’s like watching a movie that you’ve seen many times. And every time you see the movie you see something different that you didn’t see before. And that’s more or less what it’s like working down here,” says Solid Waste Services crew member Vincent Maxwell.
“What we do is very important in my eyes.”
“We come in as a team, we get the job done as a team, and go home as a team.”

City of Charlotte
600 E. Fourth St.
Charlotte, N.C. 28202
704-336-7600
www.charlottenc.gov