View Recent Plan Here By Polk Commissioners To Quickly Clean Up Missed Collections

POLK COUNTY, FL — Following the Polk County Board of County Commissioners declaring a local state of emergency for waste collection issues a little more than a week ago, the county introduced its emergency waste collection plan Monday that will help unincorporated Polk residents get rid of uncollected garbage.

An agreement among Polk County and its contracted waste hauler, FCC, to implement an emergency plan for collection services, a county news release said.

According to the commissioners, missed collections have caused solid waste to accumulate on roadways which endangers public health, safety and welfare of Polk residents.

This Is The Area It Affects, According To The County

• For residents who live in unincorporated areas west of U.S. Highway 17, who are serviced by FCC, there will be temporary collection changes.
• Residents who live in unincorporated areas east of U.S. Highway 17, who are serviced by ADS, will see no changes in their current waste collection schedules.

If you are unsure which hauler services your residence, you may access the interactive map here and enter your home address. You might have to show patience because the website is experiencing heavy volume, the county said.

Emergency Plan Details

• Recycling collection will be suspended Feb. 28-April 1.
• Beginning Monday, Feb. 28, through Friday, April 1, all household waste, bulk waste and recycling should be at the curb by 6 a.m. of your regular garbage collection day. To speed operations, all recycling put at the curb will be collected with regular household waste. Residents may put garbage from over-flowing cans into their recycling bin during this emergency period. This allows FCC to deploy all recycling equipment and staff to support a focused effort to garbage collections.
• Bulk waste should be put at the curb on your household garbage collection day. The county will temporarily suspend the 72-hour collection process and focus on collecting bulk waste as part of regular garbage routes until further notice. Residents setting out bulk waste should expect collection on their scheduled garbage collection day. The two bulk item per week policy remains in effect.
• Yard waste collection service remains the same; routine lawn and landscape maintenance items should be curbside on your regularly-scheduled yard waste collection day.
• Recycling collection by FCC will resume on Monday, April 4 on an every-other-week schedule until further notice. Details of that schedule will be communicated to customers prior to April 4.

“This emergency plan should greatly improve the public health and safety of our residents in many neighborhoods in western Polk County caused by the uncollected solid waste,” County Manager Bill Beasley said. “I’m encouraged by the cooperation that we are receiving from our hauler FCC, and our ability to develop this short-term emergency plan together so that we can resume our regular service schedules as quickly as possible.”

Patch Related Story:

• Missed Trash Pickups Causes Local State Of Emergency In Polk