Residents living in unincorporated portions of Greater Plant City will convert to Hillsborough County’s new 2-1-1 Automated Service garbage program beginning Sept. 30.
“The areas of Antioch, Seffner, Fish Hawk and Dover will also transition to automated collection the week of Sept. 30,” Kim Byer, transition manager for the Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department, said. “The only areas not affected will be the City of Plant City, City of Tampa and City of Temple Terrace service areas.”
County residential garbage customers will continue to receive twice-weekly garbage collection, weekly recyclables collection and weekly yard waste collection. But the new program does include changes to bin sizes, recycling and the trucks themselves.
Customers who are part of the program already have received their new 95-gallon garbage bin and 65-gallon recycling bin. Both feature wheels on the bottom and are specially designed to be used by the new automated trucks. Residents must use the county-provided roll carts for garbage and recyclables. Automated collection requires a standardized, heavy-duty container that will work with the trucks’ mechanisms.
As part of the county’s new single-stream recycling program, residents no will longer have to sort recyclables.
The Hillsborough County Commission voted unanimously on the changes during a special workshop in January. The current residential solid waste collection contracts, which have been in place for nearly 17 years, expire Sept. 30.
The county solicited input last fall on four possible service options, including the current manual collection of garbage and recyclables. The 2-1-1 Automated Service option is projected to save the county more than $7.5 million annually, a 22% reduction from the current contract.
Residents who receive services from Plant City’s sanitation division will see no change. The Plant City Public Works Department/Sanitation Division provides refuse service to more than 8,000 households in Plant City.
To participate in Plant City’s voluntary curbside recycling program, citizens can have a blue bin delivered to their home by calling (813) 757-9208 and providing their name, address and phone number. Customers also may come to the Sanitation Division, 1802 Spooner Drive, and pick up a blue recycling container at no charge.
Like Hillsborough County, Plant City also offers single-stream recycling, so customers do not need to separate their recyclables. Curbside pick up is one day per week.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
PICK-UP PROVIDER
Hillsborough County’s three franchise collectors are:
Progressive Waste Solutions: (813) 248-3802
Republic Services of Florida: (813) 265-0292
Waste Management Inc. of Florida: (813) 621-3053
ONLINE
For more information on the new services visit hillsboroughcounty.org.
