Winter Garden considers eliminating recycling services

The Winter Garden City Commission at its Nov. 14 meeting approved unanimously the first reading of an ordinance that would amend the city code to eliminate the city’s requirement to provide recycling collection services.

City staff said they have been working on their “Six Sigma Recycling Project” for the last year to address the ongoing issues associated with recycling in Winter Garden. 

Residents currently have recycling curbside services once per week. 

“We do use temporary labor for this, which most people don’t know, and that is a big cost to the operation, and it also requires a lot of our city employees to put in copious amounts of overtime to cover the current demand,” said Nicole Smith, project manager in performance management for the city. 

Smith said China stopped accepting recycled material from the United States in 2018, changing the business from profitable to break-even to costing the city because of high disposal fees. It costs about three times more to dump recycled goods versus general waste.

“A big factor right now that we’ve found is contamination in loads,” Smith said. “Contamination happens when people dispose of items that shouldn’t be in a recycling container, such as a greasy pizza box, plastic containers and children’s toys. … Despite efforts to educate residents using stickers directly on the cans, various articles in city publications and campaigns during events, contamination remains an issue and ruins any potential recyclable material.”

According to a report from the city that shows a five-year trend, the volume of recycled materials has decreased from 2019 to 2024 — from 3,018 tons in 2019-2020 to 2,480 tons in 2023-2024. Although the city has increased in population by 10%, the city’s loads have decreased by 22%.

Smith said the city spends about $1,058,830 a year to run the recycling operation. 

“There are many cities and counties in Florida and across the nation who have publicly eliminated their curbside program,” Smith said. “Some have gone to burning their trash for energy, some offer designated drop-off locations and others have simply chosen to take all waste to the landfill.”

Other known government agencies in Florida who have stopped their curbside program include Polk County, Clay County, Bradenton, Pembroke Pines, Davie, Mount Dora, Lady Lake and The Villages. 

Smith said residents who wish to continue recycling can visit a local facility within the city’s boundaries that will accept cardboard, paper and aluminum, as well as additional facilities scattered throughout the Central Florida area. 

“A lot of people are seeing this as just a financial opportunity for us, but we are not seeing it as that,” she said. “We’re seeing it as we’re still dedicated to the environment, and we’re seeing that what we’re doing right now is not working. We say that we’re recycling, but we’re unfortunately not. About 7% of all waste collected by the city is recycled goods. Out of that 7%, Orange County said in 2019 about 85% of what they receive is contaminated. … Out of everything that we’re collecting, only 1% is actually being recycled.” 

Smith said the goal is to make the change a true environmental initiative through the launch of the city’s Zero Waste Campaign. 

“Reduce, reuse and recycle is in a specific order for a reason,” she said. “To truly make an impact on the environment, we need to focus on reducing first, then reusing and then recycling last.”

A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled to take place Dec. 12.

ALCOHOL ORDINANCE APPROVED

The commission also approved the much-discussed alcohol ordinance.

Since the ordinance’s first reading approval at the City Commission’s Oct. 24 meeting, Planning Director Kelly Carson said the city made additional updates and adjustments to better reflect input from local business owners voicing concerns. The commission’s motion of approval at the meeting was made with staff’s recommended changes in addition to clarifying that calling the police to respond to an incident would not automatically constitute a “strike” against an establishment. 

Staff’s recommended changes included clarifying the new hours of sale do not apply to package sales, adding the option for restaurants to provide an affidavit in lieu of POS receipts and percentages of alcohol vs. food sales, modifying the suspension of permit section to simplify the list of violations and clarify culpability, as well as other minor text changes required for consistency and clarification. 

“We think this is going to encourage businesses to self-regulate; it takes the (burden) off the taxpayers to subsidize these issues; and it ensures we have a process so that we can make sure the city of Winter Garden remains charming, family-friendly, and ensures local business can survive and strive,” Carson said. 

Throughout the process, some business owners have expressed concerns regarding the ordinance, including the long-term economic impact the ordinance could have on the area if approved. 

Charles Roper, co-owner of Pilar’s Martini & Loft, said working with the city on the ordinance has been both productive and frustrating. 

“Right now, the ordinance reads as if it would go into effect immediately, but I would rather have something saying it’s not going to be effective until Jan. 1 (2025) or until all of the businesses have had a chance to apply and get through the application and appeals of this ordinance for late-night sales,” he said. “There’s things in here that are already regulated by DBPR (the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation), so we’re still curious as to why the city is trying to regulate things that are already regulated. … I wouldn’t agree that this process has been completely open and transparent. It has been difficult to get through this process, but we have gotten through it. So, thank you to staff for working with us on this.”

The owner of Lucky Straws Boba Tea Cafe also spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, saying the ordinance seems like an additional “gate-keeping opportunity” for the city. 

Winter Garden resident Cindy Bodine worries about the ordinance shifting the alcohol issue to a different part of the area and then having local residents driving home drunk. 

Commissioners approved the ordinance, with the modification that the late-night sales change will not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2025.