POLK COUNTY, Fla. — After years of trash collection issues in parts of Polk County, commissioners agreed to two new trash collection contracts which will go into effect in the fall of next year.
On Tuesday, commissioners selected FCC Environmental Services Florida, LLC and GFL Solid Waste Southeast to give contracts to. LLC will provide curbside residential solid waste collection services to Polk County from Oct. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2029. The current waste collection contracts end on Sept. 30, 2024.
According to county commissioners, FCC will service Area 1 of Polk County. Area 1 encompasses about 65,000 dwelling units in the northwest quadrant of the county. The first year of the contract is valued at $16.9 million. FCC currently services this quadrant.
GFL will service Area 2 of Polk County. Area 2 encompasses about 65,000 dwelling units in the northeast quadrant of the county. The first year of the contract is valued at $22.3 million.
The two contracts differ in value because of the size difference between the two areas. GFL drivers will log more miles than FCC drivers.
Polk County Waste & Recycling will service Area 3, which encompasses the southern portion of the county. The county’s residents are less condensed in Area 3, south of SR-60, and Waste & Recycling will service about 13,000 dwelling units.
With the new contracts, the county will end recycling services.
Commissioner Bill Braswell estimates customer rates will increase by around 60% when the new contracts go into effect.
Braswell said by the time this contract is over, the county will not have raised the rate in seven years.
"Everything on this planet has gone up considerably in that seven years," he said. "So the costs to the customers are going to go up considerably."
However, with that price increase, he also expects increased consistency in trash collection services.
"The bottom line of that is, had we not made these other changes to how they pick up the garbage, it would be considerably more. I mean, a lot of the changes were simply for efficiency," Braswell said.