Clearwater Officials Apologize To Residents For Recycling Meltdown

CLEARWATER, FL — The city that prides itself on its environmentally friendly programs is apologizing to residents after city officials discovered that recyclables collected from homes and businesses hadn't been processed for the past five months.

The discovery led to the resignation of an assistant director of the solid waste department and the directive that all recyclables collected by the city be sent to its recycling vendor, Waste Management Waste Disposal & Recycling, on a daily basis for processing.

Clearwater officials said they didn't realize the recyclables weren't being processed until October when they were made aware of complaints by residents on social media.

Residents said their recyclables were either piling up on the curbs or being sent to the Pinellas Waste-to-Energy plant along with the garbage that couldn't be recycled. When city officials questioned the city's solid waste department about the complaints, they were assured by solid waste assistant director Bryant Johnson that the city's recyclables were being properly processed, according to interim City Manager Jennifer Poirrier, who was appointed to the interim position Jan. 5 after the city council voted 3-2 to fire City Manager Jon Jennings.

Officials, therefore, were surprised to discover that Waste Management sent the city a letter in November announcing that the company was suspending its contract with Clearwater because the city hadn't delivered recyclables to Waste Management's Ybor City recycling facility since June.

Johnson, standing in for solid waste director, Earl Gloster, who retired in November, told city officials that the reasons for no longer delivering recyclables to Waste Management ranged from staffing issues to equipment failures, Poirrier said. However, city officials were never told about those issues.

"This is unacceptable and changes have been made in departmental administration," Poirrier said.

It's especially disconcerting, she said, because the city has vaunted its reputation as an environmental steward.

"We have adopted Greenprint 2.0 and have hired an energy consultant to help us reduce our energy usage in city buildings," Poirrier said. "Our actions as stewards of the public's money spent on our recycling program have not matched what we said we stand for and that is not acceptable. We have also not been open and transparent with our residents."

Poirrier said the city will resume taking recyclables to Waste Management for processing as a short-term solution until the city can reach a "more affordable and sustainable long-term solution."

The city also appointed its innovation director, Micah Maxwell, to stand in as the solid waste director and continue investigating the issue.

It's a problem that's not unique to Clearwater, Poirrier said. Countless studies have been done on the challenges faced by municipal recycling programs around the country.

This month, the Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation and the University of Florida announced the results of a five-month study examining the environmental and business impacts of discontinued municipal recycling systems in Florida.

The study measured the impact of discontinuing recycling programs on Florida city budgets and the production of greenhouse gas emissions.

Among the report’s key findings is that doing away with recycling programs offered cities little cost savings while significantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The study recommended that cities consider implementing market-based recycling systems, meaning they should target high-value recyclables such as plastic bottles, jugs, aluminum and steel cans, and newspaper and cardboard to save money and mitigate the impact of waste on the environment.

“We wanted to better understand the economics of recycling in Florida and the relationship between cost and environmental benefits,” said Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation Executive Director Keyna Cory.

The Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation is a coalition of businesses and associations working to improve the state’s recycling rates and systems. The foundation hopes to use the
report’s insights to improve the economic and environmental viability of recycling programs
statewide.

“The recycling industry has reached a tipping point and going forward it will be important to
determine a cost-effective recycling program that allows us to reduce our environmental
impacts and make better use of our resources,” said Dr. Malak Anshassi, one of the researchers.

While the city of Clearwater comes up with a long-term solution, Poirrier asked residents for their patience and cooperation.

"Due to the current challenges facing the domestic municipal recycling programs, residents can make the most impact by reducing their waste and decreasing contamination in the recycling stream," said Poirrier. "The mantra, 'reduce, reuse, and recycle' has 'recycle' listed last for a reason. The most impact we can have is by reducing our waste."