Koreatown tenants push for better trash collection, more street trash cans

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

L.A. plans to add 65 public trash cans in Koreatown after tenants raised concerns about a shortage of places to throw away trash.

The new trash cans aim to address one of three demands from the Koreatown chapter of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, which launched its Barrio Limpio campaign in September. The group is also calling for dumpsters at all apartment buildings and businesses, as well as more reliable bulky-item pickup.

Martin Mendoza, a member of the Koreatown Tenants Union who lives near Olympic Boulevard and Normandie Avenue, said the campaign grew out of years of complaints from residents.

The union has organized monthly cleanups along the 8th Street corridor between Normandie and Vermont avenues for about two years.

“We knew for a long time that that wasn’t enough,” Mendoza said. “There are practically no trash cans along 8th Street itself for quite a stretch.” 

The problems go beyond a shortage of public trash cans, Mendoza said. Some apartment buildings do not have enough dumpster space, he said, while others are not emptied regularly. Illegal dumping and infrequent street sweeping also contribute to the problem.

“This is just a basic service. It’s like having a home without a trash can. Where are you going to put the trash?” Mendoza said. “A lot of our members feel the neglect … probably the biggest thing is sanitation fears, especially public health crises.” 

The Los Angeles Sanitation Bureau operates 2,472 public trash bins citywide, according to spokesperson Heather Johnson. In Koreatown, the department has 17 automated litter bins and 19 metal slatted bins.

Johnson said LASAN places public trash receptacles along major commercial corridors and at designated bus stops, using data analytics and working with council offices to determine locations. Depending on how heavily a bin is used, the department says it empties receptacles three to seven days a week.

Data from Crosstown shows Koreatown had 435 reports involving public trash receptacles from October 1, 2025 through October 29, 2026, nearly double the 219 reports in Highland Park, the next-highest neighborhood in the data.

MyLA311 defines these as public trash cans located in the public right-of-way, typically near street corners with red curbs or at bus stops. The category includes cans reported as overflowing, damaged, missing or in need of maintenance.

The union also used Crosstown data and a story published by The LA Local earlier this year about illegal dumping in Koreatown in its campaign launch video.

‘Quality of life’

For volunteers with No Harm KTLA, a group that holds trash cleanups in Koreatown twice a month, overflowing bins are a regular sight. During a recent cleanup around Western Avenue and Third Street, volunteers passed at least three overflowing cans with litter piled around them, said volunteer Tam Phan.

“I don’t know what the schedule is for Koreatown and how often they pick it up there, but if we’re doing the 1st and 3rd weekends of every month and they’re always overfilled, that’s really not a good look,” Phan said.

She said volunteers sometimes walk two or three blocks without seeing a trash can. Finding somewhere to dispose of the trash they collect can also be difficult. Near Vermont and Wilshire boulevards, the closest open dumpster the group found was about a mile away, she said.

“It’s just the quality of life,” Phan said. “There’s just so many little pieces of trash everywhere and it starts to compound.”

Nicole Arbusto, who lives on Second Street between Normandie and Vermont avenues, said cleanliness varies from block to block. She said the neighborhood has too few public trash cans, and the ones that are there are not emptied regularly.

“When people see a lot of just litter on the ground, they litter,” she said. “I think if there’s a trash can, people will be more apt to put it in the trash can.”

The city has several programs to clean up trash in Koreatown. Steve Kang, president of the Board of Public Works, said the city recently launched a rapid-response team dedicated to Koreatown to pick up bulky items and address other forms of blight.

“There isn’t a one-size-fits-all criteria. We really work with the community and the council district in identifying the locations for the trash cans,” Kang said.

In the future, Kang said, the current plastic bins would be replaced with more durable cans bolted into the sidewalk and designed to be harder to tamper with. 

The 65 new cans would address one of the union’s demands, but Mendoza said residents and community groups should not have to take on the work of keeping their own blocks clean.

“The voice of our members and a lot of the general public just indicates how widespread this problem is,” Mendoza said.