Mayor to suspend curbside recycle collections in Jacksonville next Monday

Jacksonville, Fl — The city of Jacksonville will temporarily suspend curbside recycle collections starting October 4th as a way to catch up on trash and yard debris collections.

“To help alleviate this issue, my team and I are temporarily suspending curbside recycling collections beginning next Monday, Oct. 4, so that teams can catch up on the backlog of garbage and yard waste collections”, Mayor Lenny Curry announced.

The city will operate 14 recycling drop-off locations to help with the suspension of curbside pickup. It’s not clear how long curbside recycling will be suspended, as Curry said resumption of normal operations would happen ‘as soon as possible’.

He cited a nationwide labor shortage as one of the issues leading to delays in collection of waste in several neighborhoods for months.

“The circumstances that brought us to this place, a place that none of us have seen in our lifetimes, were beyond our control. It is a result of the lasting impacts the coronavirus pandemic has had on our economy”, Curry said.

In addition to the suspension of curbside recycling, Curry said he’s going to introduce legislation at Tuesday’s city council meeting that will create a yard waste transfer station to assist in reducing run times.

And it would include a fee reduction for residents that prefer to drop off their yard waste at the Trail Ridge facility. Costs would be $1 for up to 500 pounds of yard waste. The Trail Ridge site accepts yard waste from citizens Monday through Saturday.

WHAT CAN I RECYCLE?

All items should be clean, empty and dry. These items are accepted:

Paper:

• Mail, office and school paper

• Newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books

• Paperback books

• Brown paper bags

• Fiberboard boxes (cracker/cereal)

• Corrugated cardboard (flattened and 2′x3′ or smaller)

Plastics:

• Numbered 1-3, 5 and 7

• Water/soda bottles

• Detergent bottles

• Cleaning solution bottles Cartons

• Milk and creamer containers

• Juice boxes

• Soup and broth containers

Glass:

• Green, brown or clear bottles and jars (discard lids with garbage)

Metal:

• Steel food containers

• Aluminum cans

•Aluminum baking pans

WHAT CAN’T I RECYCLE? These items are not accepted:

• Any #4 Plastics (LDPE) - Includes items such as cling (Saran) wrap, sandwich bags, plastic garbage or grocery bags

• Any #6 Plastics (Polystyrene) - Includes items such as all types of Styrofoam, packing peanuts, plastic cutlery, hangers, and medicine bottles

• Aerosol cans

• Shredded paper

• Weapons

• Batteries

• Fireworks or flares

• Needles

• Cables or wires

• Rubber

• Food or yard waste

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