The phrase "collected garbage" is perfectly acceptable and usable in written English.
For example, you might say, "The sanitation department collected the garbage every Tuesday morning."
"I collected garbage since I was little," he said.
In Varadero, workers collected garbage and cleaned pools as they normally would.
Rising from desperate poverty, he collected garbage to put himself through college.
They swept where they could, mopped where they could, collected garbage when they could.
Later, she would occupy a toddler by letting him hold the other end of the trash bag as she collected garbage from passengers.
The residents who still collected garbage — mostly women, mostly Matang, one of the traditionally untouchable castes — were carrying gunnysacks marked "UPS".
When #waste collection company decides to stop collecting garbage in Beirut-Lebanon pic.twitter.com/yFY7dJMH0Y.
"Our job is to collect garbage, transport garbage, and treat garbage.
Accompanying the crowds are men in green uniforms pushing green carts and collecting garbage.
The Business Improvement District collects garbage, decorates for the holidays and helps to finance building renovations.
Last summer, his reporters began covering places around the city where authorities were not regularly collecting garbage.
