BARTOW, Fla. — Polk County has a plan to get waste collection back on track.

The county has reached an agreement with its contracted waste hauler, FCC Environmental Services, to implement an emergency plan for collection services.

There won't be separate recycling pick up starting February 28 through April 1. This allows more crews to collect garbage. If you put out recycling, it will be collected with your regular garbage.

What You Need To Know

The county is currently operating under a local state of emergency declared by the Board of County Commissioners due to ongoing missed residential waste collection in unincorporated Polk.

Missed collections recently have caused solid waste to accumulate on roadways. 

Last week, county officials had called the  lack of garbage pickup a threat to public health and safety.

Residents who live in unincorporated areas east of U.S. Highway 17, who are serviced by Advanced Disposal Services, will see no changes in their current waste collection schedules.

For residents who live in unincorporated areas west of U.S. Highway 17, who are serviced by FCC, there will be temporary collection changes.

To speed operations, all recycling put at the curb will be collected with regular household waste. Residents may put garbage from over-flowing cans into their recycling bin during this emergency period. This allows FCC to deploy all recycling equipment and staff to support a focused effort to garbage collections.

Bulk waste should be put at the curb on your household garbage collection day. Yard waste collection service remains the same; routine lawn and landscape maintenance items should be curbside on your regularly scheduled yard waste collection day.

“This emergency plan should greatly improve the public health and safety of our residents in many neighborhoods in western Polk County caused by the uncollected solid waste,” said County Manager Bill Beasley. “I’m encouraged by the cooperation that we are receiving from our hauler FCC, and our ability to develop this short-term emergency plan together so that we can resume our regular service schedules as quickly as possible.”