JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Curbside recycling will return to the City of Jacksonville in April, according to a tweet from Mayor Lenny Curry.
The City of Jacksonville pushed pause on curbside recycling pickup last year in order to prioritize the collection of garbage and yard waste.
Curry says the city has seen notable progress in regard to labor shortages they once faced with contractors, and are prepared to resume services.
"I'm pleased to announce that curbside recycling will return throughout the @CityofJax on Monday, April 4th," tweeted Curry, in part. "I'm grateful to our citizens for their patience during these challenging and unprecedented times as we've faced issues happening in cities throughout the nation."
During the solid waste town hall meeting in Arlington Tuesday night, the administration released more details about the return to curbside.
Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes says it'll be services as usual come April 4. This means recyclables will be picked up on the same days homes were scheduled on before the suspension of curbside.
Also, the 14 locations in Jacksonville where people can drop recyclables will go away. Hughes says the bins will picked up that Friday, April 1, before curbside is set to resume.
"We've taken the time we think we need to get caught up. So, we're going to bring it back," Hughes explained. "Many of the challenges in the environment, economic environment, is still there. So, I don't think we're going to see perfection in April. But, based on the work with the haulers, we're prepared to bring it back now."
Last week, a special committee was formed to investigate Jacksonville’s solid waste and recycling operations and then recommend changes.
The five city councilmembers said they will be looking at a wide variety of issues and potential solutions, including:
- The possibility of changes to the recycle program, ideas include eliminating glass items and restarting curbside pick-up to a once a month service.
- The possibility of waste transfer stations, which are intended to reduce the amount of time collection trucks spend driving to the trial ridge landfill on the westside after completing partial routes.
- Increasing the solid waste user fee, which, right now, doesn’t cover the costs of services. The City of Jacksonville's general fund is helping pay for the deficit, but because of that the city will have a loan that will top $30 million by the end of this fiscal year.
- Reviewing contracts with solid waste companies, because committee chair Ron Salem says, their rates are all different since their contracts all begin and end at different times.
Special Committee on Solid Waste Chair Ron Salem says he’s glad curbside recycling is coming back in April.
However, he wants it to come back in a way that's successful, and believes it can be if the city educates homeowners.
"I have some concerns, and I will be voicing those at the committee meeting on Thursday," Salem explained. "It’s important to me to not just bring it back, but to bring it back in a way that the public is informed of what we’re recycling."
Over the next six weeks before curbside returns, Hughes says the city does plan on educating homeowners on how to properly recycle.
"It could involve all kinds of different things besides online and electronic," Hughes said. "There are a lot of folks that don't go to that technology. So, we have the haulers and our people that go to the residents periodically throughout the month, that would be potentially a time to leave something on the can either a sticker on a can or a magnet that they can take inside their house."
If you're interested in attending, the special committee's first meeting is Thursday, Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. inside the Jacksonville City Council Chambers. There will be time for public comment at the end.
Salem says the first couple of meetings will focus on recycling, but the committee will move on to discuss the other issues and potential solutions.
He says the public works department will be very involved in the investigation of the city’s solid waste and recycling operations.
“We’re going to ask all the garbage haulers to attend every meeting," Salem said. "And we may bring in some regional or local experts.”
The special committee will meet about every two weeks until Jun. 30, which is when the council members will present their findings and recommendations to the council president.
Citizens can visit myjax.custhelp.com or call (904) 630 – CITY to confirm their recycling, garbage or yard waste collection day.