ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. — The City of St. Augustine Beach has figured a way to return to curbside recycling pick up.
Like other cities in Florida – including Jacksonville -- the beach community pushed pause on recycling, citing labor shortages.
TONIGHT Jessica Clark is on your side –explaining how this city brought it back.
Dan Hartman of St. Augustine Beach is an avid recycler.
"We used to do it religiously until they quit in September or October," he told First Coast News Monday.
St. Augustine Beach City Manager said the city used to work with Advanced Disposal for recycling pick-up. However the deal dissolved in the fall between the city and the company, which was bought by Waste Management in 2020. The city commission decided to take on recycling itself.
The city bought a recycling truck, hired a crew, and will now take the recyclables to a different facility that charges less, according to City Manager Max Royle.
However, there are changes for residents.
The list of things they can put in the recycling bin is a lot smaller than it was.
Hartman looked at the list. "Aluminum foil, baking and serving dishes. I used to rinse all that stuff off and we’d throw it in the recycle (bin). They don’t take it now."
Glass is no longer picked up either.
And if there are items in the bin that the city won’t accept as recyclables, then the city crew will just leave the entire bin.
Pick-up crews are also leaving notes on the bins, explaining why the bin was not emptied.
Royle said the city crews will only pick up what the new facility will actually recycle. And he says the city staff does not have time to sort through it.
Hartman said, "There’s a lot of stuff on this list that should be recycled but it’s not. And honestly, I’m not going to save it. It’s going to go in the garbage."
Also, residents are paying more for the service. According to the city's finance director, the commission voted to increase the solid waste and recycling fee from $178 a year to $315 a year.
Royle told First Coast News it’s too early to know if the city-run recycling program will be less expensive.
However, curbside recycling is back, and other Florida cities may take note of the pros and cons.
"I wish the changes would go back to the way it was. It was far less restrictive," Hartman said.
However, others are glad to see any kind of pick-up return.