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TEU committee hears annual recycling report; officials flag glass costs, missing carts and outreach gaps
Summary
Solid Waste staff told the TEU Committee the city collected about 38,700 tons of curbside recyclables last year, faces expensive glass recycling (about $50/ton), recorded roughly 9,452 complaints mainly about carts, and plans outreach, cart purchases and safety work on lithium batteries.
The TEU Committee of the Jacksonville City Council heard the Solid Waste Division’s annual recycling report on March 17, where staff summarized program operations, market pressures and recommendations to raise participation.
Eric Fuller, Solid Waste Division, presented the report and said the city’s curbside program is single-stream and served nearly 300,000 premises last fiscal year. ‘‘We did about 38,700 tons last year collected curbside,’’ Fuller said, breaking that down as roughly 15,600 tons of paper and cardboard, about 4,100 tons of plastics, 8,300 tons of glass and about 1,800 tons of metals, with roughly 8,300 tons categorized as contamination or non-program materials. Fuller said the program’s reported complaints for fiscal year 2024–25 totaled about 9,452, of which more than half were related to recycle-cart issues.
The presentation outlined contracts and processing arrangements: curbside collections are performed by private haulers (Meridian Waste and Waste Pro) and city crews in the historic core, and the city’s processing contract with Republic Services began in October 2024 and runs through 2028 with two possible two‑year extensions. Fuller said the contract splits commodity revenues and costs with Republic Services ‘‘50/50,’’ and that split produced ‘‘a little over $1.8 million’’ for the city last year.
Officials flagged glass as the most acute market problem. When asked about the glass market, Fuller said the city is effectively paying to recycle glass, at about $50 per ton, and that some Florida municipalities have stopped curbside glass collection because of cost. ‘‘We have to actually pay someone to take the glass,’’ Fuller said, adding that the department is exploring alternative uses such as incorporation in concrete mixes but has not found a scalable solution.
Fuller also described program finances: collection costs (hauler payments, fuel, carts) are a little over $12 million and processing fees are just under $4 million; he said airspace savings from avoided landfill use were estimated at about $700,000. On contamination, Fuller reported the program’s contamination rate and related disposal cost, noting that contamination is a significant line item in expenses.
On operations and complaints, Fuller said a backlog of cart requests entering the fiscal year produced many ‘‘missing cart’’ reports; councilmembers pressed staff to explain whether the category reflected theft, moves or misclassification. Fuller said the department had budgeted for additional carts and was delivering thousands of replacements to reduce outstanding complaints.
Councilmembers asked about participation targets and education. Fuller estimated household participation ‘‘around 50–60%’’ overall but said the program and haulers collect whether or not a household sets a cart out. ‘‘We’d certainly like to see people putting their carts out,’’ Fuller said, and he urged expanded outreach through the city Waste Wizard app, the recyclingsimplified.com educator resources and social media. Fuller noted the Solid Waste Division does not manage school recycling contracts and does not provide commercial collections, but he encouraged using partner slide decks and field trips offered by Republic Services to engage classrooms.
Fuller also warned of safety risks from lithium batteries, which have caused fires in collection trucks and processing facilities. He said there is state-level legislation being proposed to treat lithium batteries similarly to lead‑acid automotive batteries to improve safe handling and take-back practices.
Fuller closed by recommending continued education and compliance work, monitoring commodity markets, pursuing grants and keeping the Waste Wizard resources up to date. The presentation drew follow-up requests from councilmembers for more detailed revenue figures and the department’s plan for cart replacement targets.
What happens next: staff said they will continue outreach and cart deliveries and will supply more detailed revenue and commodity tables on request.
