Uproar Over New Curbside Trash Collection: Higher Cost, Fewer Services
Wheeled Bins, a Familiar Sight in Green Cove and Orange Park, Coming To Rest of County
By SHELBIE GRAHAM
Clay County is in for a fright this October, and it has nothing to do with Halloween. Instead, I am referring to Clay County government’s upcoming 10-year-long curbside collection contract with FCC Environmental Services, which will be effective on Oct. 1.
FCC (Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas) is a Spanish business group headquartered in Barcelona. The European waste management company has made a strong push to crack into the multi-million-dollar American market, the “largest solid waste market in the world.” FCC was awarded its first U.S. bid in Houston in 2014. A year later, the business was awarded a contract to service Orange County here in Florida.
From 2024 to 2034, FCC will provide trash collection services along our neighborhood’s curbs. The new contract with FCC will be effective county-wide except for Green Cove Springs and Orange Park, both of those municipalities negotiate their own curbside collections. For 16 years Clay has contracted Waste Management to pick up trash and recycling. Now, not for much longer.
Costs More
Clay’s annual curbside collection costs, which fall on property taxpayers, climbed from $138 to $262 in the span of two years — not including disposal fees. Here’s what we paid for 2022 and 2023:
Clay’s previous 2022 contract was with Waste Management. The collection fee was $161, although homeowners were able to save $22.70 because of a recycling credit. So, the total cost was $138 for the year plus a disposal fee.
Clay’s current 2023 contract, also with Waste Management, has homeowners paying $228 in a collection fee plus an added $96 disposal fee — $324 per household per year.
Clay’s upcoming 2024-2034 contract with FCC will charge Clay’s residents $262 for its collection fee plus that same $96 disposal fee — about $358 per household per year.
That $358 price tag will be tacked onto your property taxes, but it doesn’t include the other extra fees you may come across. Prepare to be nickel-and-dimed-and-dollared for the next 10 years.
The FCC will be rolling out a single 95-gallon “cart” to each household starting on Monday, July 29. And any trash bags that can’t fit in the cart won’t be picked up, unless affixed with a $4 sticker. These stickers will be sold by FCC at local retailers such as Winn-Dixie, Ace Hardware and Dollar General.
If it’s any consolation, the cart’s volume is roughly comparable with two typical garbage cans (which are usually about 40-45 gallons each) and can be stuffed with about 7-8 kitchen garbage bags. However, its bulky size may mean difficulties for elderly homeowners or those that live on dirt roads and driveways. You can pay an added fee to have FCC pick up your cart from your door for you.
FCC’s automated curbside collection service is the region for mandating uniform garbage carts. Orange Park and Green Cove Springs, the municipalities not impacted by the FCC contract, currently have an automated system as well.
If you want a second cart, you’ll have to lease it. It’ll cost between $50-$100 to have a second cart plus a $5.11 monthly fee.
Since the FCC contract lasts a decade, these carts will be rolled (or dragged) back and forth to your curb for quite a while.
Reduces Services
The new contract with FCC is more expensive and ironically half the service. Because, unlike Waste Management, FCC will not be picking up curbside recycling.
Recycling at the county level will practically be abolished, as the county will only be accepting coagulated cardboard at Rosemary Hill landfill. In just another ironic twist of the knife, you won’t even be able to recycle the discontinued blue recycling bins. Feel free to take your old recycling bin to Rosemary Hill and toss it onto the sad, blue plastic pile — a metaphorical mass grave. Or, you can hold onto your recycling bin as a souvenir. Maybe it’ll see some action again in 2035.
Some environmentalists have reconsidered the notion of recycling, but others still stand for its ecological merits.
“Eliminating recycling squanders one of the easiest opportunities for communities and citizens to help lessen the impact of climate change and reduce our demands on natural resources. Recycling won’t solve the problem alone, but it is part of the puzzle,” Timothy Townsend, a professor of environmental engineering sciences at the University of Florida, said in 2023.
Recycling was once a modest revenue source for the county. In 2022, homeowners were able to save $22.70 off their collection bill, as the county used to be paid $6 per ton of recycled material. However, recent fluctuations in the global market have instead incurred a cost of $85 per ton to process the same recycled material.
Orange Park and Green Cove Springs will continue to facilitate curbside recycling pick up. The two municipalities also have trash collections twice per week, compared to Clay’s once per week.
As far as other reduced services go, bulk pickup will be limited to only once per month during the new contract, and it must be scheduled. Residents are allowed only three items to be hauled off, three pieces of old furniture for example. Any other items incur an added cost.
What’s That Odor?
There’s certainly something stinky about this contract. I followed my nose through previously recorded meetings of the Clay County Board of County Commissioners (BCC). All recorded meetings are on the Clay County, Florida, Government’s Facebook page. I found the smell came from the rushed, short-sighted decisions made months ago.
Last December, the BCC was presented with proposals from three solid waste businesses to contract for curbside collection starting in October 2024. Waste Management submitted a bid to renew its contract, but it was “ranked lower” than a bid posted by FCC.
The rankings were determined by an unnamed governmental committee on Nov. 28 based on proposals and presentations given by FCC, Waste Management and Waste Pro. The committee presented its rankings and recommendations during the BCC’s meeting on Dec. 12.
Concerningly, the rankings were based on a subjective score. Facts and figures during the proposals were not presented to the BCC, and therefore omitted from the public’s view. FCC got a score of 175.6 against Waste Management’s 156.5 and Waste Pro’s 145.8.
Obviously, we see which number is greater, but it would be nice if the county explained how these numbers were calculated and by what metrics.
None of the projected costs, services, facts, figures — any objective criteria at all — from any of the three presentations were explained during the BCC’s Dec. 12 meeting or its previous Nov. 28 meeting, for that matter.
Uproar
Folks in the county are in uproar, wondering why there was such little discussion over an essential public service with such a long-lasting contractual shelf life.
The only one who spoke up on the BCC was Chairman Jim Renninger, who was concerned about FCC’s prevalence of fines and damages during its contracted curbside collection in Orange County.
The county’s governmental staff admitted it was unaware of the context of many of the fines, and an FCC representative gave vague explanations when he stepped up to the podium during the meeting. He blamed the fines due to the company’s switch to automated curbside collection.
“It was a huge learning curve,” Charles Merkley, the FCC representative, said regarding the company’s transition.
“There were plenty of fines for the other haulers. We weren’t the only haulers with fines. Look on the next page, you’ll see who the best service provider is for Orange County —it’s FCC. They gave us perfect tens on our scoring,” Merley said. “Fines are part of a contract.”
For Renninger, this did not appear to inspire much confidence. “Fines are created by complaints, and complaints are what I get, and I don’t want any more complaints,” Renninger replied.
Renninger asked about FCC’s 360-degree cameras that take photos of each house they collect from and use as proof of curbside collection. (Welcome to the 21st century, where privacy no longer exists.)
Condon Flips for Pennies
On Dec. 12, Commissioner Betsy Condon made the motion to move forward with FCC, which the rest of the BCC voting 5-0
The BCC reconvened on Jan. 9 and was appalled by the costs for the FCC’s collection costs estimates. The company had six options. Even the cheapest options on the list were more expensive than what we currently have, and many were notably without recycling.
Having consistent curbside recycling pickup would have cost homeowners $68 dollars more a year. But the commissioners decided against it. The added cost of recycling plus low community turnout — probably due to the new recycling guidelines that were released the previous month — persuaded the BCC to vote 3-2 in a razor-thin decision to begin negotiations for a contract with FCC without recycling. Commissioners Mike Cella and Alexandra Compere were the dissenting votes.
The pro-FCC commissioners—Renninger, Condon and Kristen Burke—held a majority on the dais, and so, the BCC was effectively unable to consider any other alternatives.
Finally on Feb. 13, the BCC voted 4-1 to accept and finalize the contract for which Clay County will have to learn to get used to for the next 10 years. Condon was the dissenting vote.
Oddly, Condon had previously rallied for FCC and appeared their chief supporter. At the Dec. 12 meeting, she paved the way for their successful bid. She said the company had answered all her questions. FCC effectively eliminated curbside recycling in their contract and at the Jan. 9 meeting, Condon was quick to support its exclusion.
“Recycling has become expensive, and not really worth it. We live in a disposable society. And unfortunately, recycling has kind of gone away,” she said.
During the BCC meeting on Feb. 13, Condon told the rest of the BCC she would vote “no” based on the contract’s cart maintenance, which she said would charge residents two cents more per month than necessary.
Unbelievable…. CCBOCC is doing a 10 year contract with a foreign company. How about doing business with an American Company. Everyone of them should be voted out of office next time they are up for reelection
Great reporting! This was initiated by the county in a very sneaky and underhanded way. They indicated to save us money, but in actuality with the reduction of services and the fee of $96 that is tacked on, does not essentially save the tax payers. I worked in contracting and this smells pretty fishy, that someone who was handling the bids and reviewing them obviously had some ties to the new servicer. And to sign us to a 10 year contract is just mind blowing. Now tax payers are virtually stuck with this company and their service for 10 years! And to make matters even worse, our money is going to a company with HQs in Barcelona Spain and not even in the United States. The county should be ashamed of themselves and its time to drain the swamp here in Clay County!