Clearwater residents get 6 months recycling credit after mishap: ‘This mistake will not happen again’

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Starting Oct. 1, residents in Clearwater will get six months of free recycling. 

The Clearwater City Council unanimously approved the measure Thursday night. City leaders say they’re working to regain the public’s trust and that this is a first step.

City leaders were tipped off that from July through December of last year, recycling was being picked up from homes, but was thrown into a landfill with trash instead of a sorting facility where it was supposed to be processed. Residents, though, were still paying for recycling. 

"This mistake will not happen again," City Manager Jennifer Poirrier said. "It’s something I said then. It’s humiliating to uncover, but the work that we have done to bring it to where it is today is a testament to the leadership that is out there," she said.

RELATED: City of Clearwater finds recyclables haven't been processed since June 2022

A city spokesperson said they were assured by the waste management department that they were processing recyclables, but the department wasn’t telling the truth.

Clearwater city council discusses future of recycling. 

"The proposed six month’s credit for the recycling fee that was charged is a reasonable compromise with respect to rebating the refunds back to the citizens and the fact that this will be implemented on the first of October by being removed from the bills is a very acceptable process," resident Patrick Raftery said. 

"I think the residents will be very happy with what has been decided and we will now put this issue behind us and move forward," he said.

READ: Pinellas County landfills may hit capacity in a few years as more people move to area

Another resident who spoke during the public comment period before a decision was made said she was extremely upset with how things were handled and didn’t feel that city leaders were being honest.

The other option on the table for the city council was to give residents about $20 to refund for the recycling fee for those six months. 
Clearwater started using a new contractor in January, Waste Connections, for its recycling program. City Council approved a one-year contract with Waste Connections Thursday for $120 per ton plus some revenue sharing. 

The city has also made changes in their waste management administration in the past six months. 

WATCH: Recycling rerouted to solid waste facility

"My one goal when assigned to the position was try to get that trust back to our residents, and the first step was to get a contract so that we were properly recycling," new Clearwater Solid Waste Director Kervin St. Aimie said.

St. Aimie said right now they have two trucks and they’re adding a third that is budgeted for some time in the next year. 

READ: 'You have a huge impact': How you can recycle the right way

"It’s more of just making sure that we have the amount of vehicles to take the process of recycling," St. Aimie said.

The city had initially blamed the recycling issue last year on two broken tractor-trailers that are normally used to transport recycling. 

The contract with Waste Connections will go into effect at the start of next month. The city also created a page on its website where customers can track recycling activity they said for added transparency.