County staff providing guide to assist residents with March switch to new service providers

The delivery of new garbage carts are underway in unincorporated areas of Sarasota County, county staff has announced, with more than 140,000 going to residences before new contractors take over solid waste and yard waste collections on March 31.
County staff is urging county customers not to use the new carts until March 31.
As of midday on Jan. 21, the county’s Solid Waste staff told The Sarasota News Leader that more than 9,000 of the new carts had been delivered. The News Leader had inquired about the count. Just a day later, Solid Waste raised the tally. In an email that Genevieve Judge, the county’s public information and community outreach manager, sent the News Leader on Jan. 22, she noted that Solid Waste had reported to the Communications staff that the number had climbed above 20,000, or approximately 14% of the total.
Additionally, staff has created an interactive map that residents may check to learn their new collection day. Brian Usher, director of the county’s Solid Waste Department, pointed out to the county commissioners last year that the days of the week for the pickups were expected to change.
This is the link to that interactive map. All a person has to do is type in his or her address to see what day to expect the collections, staff has pointed out.

Further, staff has provided a Welcome Guide about the coming changes. It may be accessed here.
The 21-page guide reminds residents that the county’s service contract with Waste Management ends on March 29. It also notes that “a number of changes in technology and collection processes” have occurred over the past 20 years. County staff used data obtained from a “2022 Solid Waste Market Assessment to negotiate contracts with the new service providers to focus on the most important services at the most cost-effective rates,” the guide explains.
The Sarasota County Commission approved the new contracts on March 5, 2024, agreeing with the Solid Waste staff proposal to split the county into two districts.
The winner of the North District contract was Waste Pro of Florida, which has offices in Clearwater and Fort Myers. A company called FCC Environmental Services will handle the South District.
Usher, the Solid Waste director, also told the commissioners on March 5, 2024 that the new contracts call for automated garbage collection, akin to the process that is being used for recyclable materials in the county.

The Welcome Guide stresses, “With the transition to automated garbage collection, only materials placed inside the county-provided garbage carts will be collected. Garbage placed in personal containers will no longer be collected after March 29, 2025.”
Each county customer will receive one garbage cart, whose expense will be covered by the annual assessment that the customer pays the county, Usher added on March 5, 2024. However, “Some customers may generate more volume” per week than the solitary cart will be able to handle, he said. In those cases, Usher pointed out, the contracts will allow the customers to obtain additional carts, for an extra monthly fee paid to the company handling their service.
Persons wishing to change the size of their carts may make such requests as of July 1, the Welcome Guide for the new services says.
Further, the guide notes, “Residents with curbside collection services will be able to request up to four free pickups per year for bulk materials (up to 10 cubic yards per pickup).” It adds, “Requests for bulk pickups must be scheduled in advance with the service provider.”
The guide also points out, “There are no changes to recycling. Continue using your blue recycling cart and follow current disposal guidelines. No plastic bags are allowed,” it emphasizes.
No changes will be made to yard waste collections, either, the guide notes: “Follow the same disposal guidelines as before. No plastic bags are allowed,” it once again emphasizes.
As for what residents should do with their old garbage carts after the new ones go into use, the Welcome Guide suggests that the old carts could be used for yard waste collections, for storage or for home composting. To learn how to compost, the guide adds, persons may visit a webpage of the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension and Sustainability program in the county.