Couches, coolers, washers, and driers are just some of the many white goods you may see on the side of the road. Illegal dumping continues to make a foul mess of the island. KUAM News spoke with the Guam Solid Waste Authority to find out what services they offer that help combat the clutter.

Agency general manager Larry Gast says that one of the first things he noticed when he got on Guam was the illegal dumping problem. "After I saw a couple of fires on the south end near the roadways you saw all these white goods that were just sitting on the side of the road that people dumped," he stated.

"White goods are basically what you would think of as an appliance."

Each GSWA customer is subscribed to garbage and recycling collection, and is entitled to two bulky waste pickups a year, of which Gast says, "Which could be a reclining chair it could be a couch it could be a washer it could be a drier a dishwasher something that you have that you don't want anymore.

"By providing these services it basically should cover most everything that a household has to throw away."

Gast says it was then that he started advocating for an island wide collection program, to which he says based on meetings with Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, is something she's very much interested in. In order for that to happen, several legislative changes would have to be made before the program can take off.

"If it gets approved the biggest drawback is going to be getting the equipment," he added.

But the crazy current state of supply systems around the world has made purchasing new trucks and equipment quite difficult. Gast has contacted 17 different dealerships in Florida alone, but none of them had any trucks on the lot.

"We could probably start phasing in and you know probably start at the north end of the island or south end or one spot as we get one truck we could include more people get another truck include more people," he said.

Gast hopes to start rolling out the island wide collection by the middle of 2022. Solid waste is one of the items covered under the CARES Act, which is how GSWA looks at purchasing a total of 12 specialized vehicles. To find out more on GSWA and to register for their services, contact their office at 646-3111.