Florida cities suspend recycling collection in aftermath of Hurricane Ian

Several Florida cities and communities have suspended curbside recycling collection programs in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

The city of Sarasota, Florida, has announced that it is suspending its recycling collection services “until further notice” because of continued power outages at the city’s recycling processing center. The city reports that it plans to continue to collect garbage from residents on regularly scheduled days, however.

As of Sept. 29, Lee County, Florida, reported that it will not be providing residential recycling services, stating that it will resume those collection services “at a later time.”

Manatee County, Florida, also has suspended recycling collections “until further notice,” according to an announcement on the county’s website. The county says the recycling collection suspension will allow the county’s collection drivers “to concentrate on trash and debris collection.” The county says it offers 10 recycling collection sites for residents, as well as a recycling drop-off center at the Manatee County Landfill in Bradenton, Florida.

Although recycling collection services are suspended for some cities and counties in Florida, most cities report that they have resumed residential trash collection as of early October, and many report that they are focused on collecting debris from the storm.

Additionally, Longwood, Florida-based Waste Pro has shared on its website that it plans to provide residents with trash or recycling container replacements for any of the company’s containers that were damaged as a result of Hurricane Ian.

Keith Banasiak, chief operating officer at Waste Pro, says he expects that the company will need to provide between 18,000 to 20,000 container replacements as a result of Hurricane Ian.

“This morning alone there were 3,450 customers that had called in for carts,” he tells Waste Today as of Oct. 11.

Banasiak adds that about 135 to 145 of Waste Pro’s collection routes have had to adjust operations in response to Hurricane Ian, suspending recycling and yard waste collection services. He says the company plans to resume its suspended recycling collection routes by the week of Oct. 18.