Knox County’s seven convenience centers will close on Wednesday, March 17 to perform maintenance, deep cleaning, and staff training.

The move is the first of four planned maintenance and in-service training days beginning this year. The Knox County Engineering and Public Works Department will also close convenience centers for planned maintenance and training on the third Wednesday of June, September and December, since Wednesdays are typically less busy.

Convenience centers took in a record-breaking amount of garbage and recyclables over the last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The centers are traditionally open six days a week – 58 hours a week – and closed only on Sundays and county holidays. Last year, centers generated higher-than-normal amounts of residential waste and recycling increases from individuals staying indoors or working from home.

“2020 was crazy with our centers constantly running at full capacity,” said Drew Thurman, director of Knox County Solid Waste. “Equipment breaking in the middle of the day can cause losses of service at multiple locations, which can be more disruptive to center users than a published closure. We will begin shutting down everything on a regular schedule to enable the proper inspection of facilities to ensure we are in compliance with our state permit.”

A complete listing of convenience center closures due to holidays and maintenance/training is published yearly here and also posted on the entrance and exits gates of all convenience centers. More information about the Solid Waste Department can be found here.