CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater City Council discussed crediting residents for recycling charges at a work session Monday.

The city announced in January that the solid waste department didn't send recyclables to be properly processed for the last six months of 2022.

What You Need To Know

  • Clearwater City Council discussed issuing recycling charge credits to customers at a work session Monday

  • The city announced last month its solid waste department hadn't sent items to be recycled since June

  • Council members are considering issuing either full credits or partial credits based on the difference in cost of taking recyclables to the waste-to-energy facility instead of Waste Management for proper processing

  • Credits are expected to be discussed again at the council's meeting on Thursday

“This was more than just us screwing up. This was a public trust mistake,” said Clearwater City Council member David Allbritton.

According to the city, the city manager’s office reached out to the solid waste department in October after becoming aware Clearwater’s recycling processing was a topic of discussion on Nextdoor. The city said solid waste reported recycling was happening as normal. In November, recycling processor Waste Management let the city know it would no longer accept its recyclables. An investigation led to officials learning that they had taken no recyclables to Waste Management since June 2022, but were instead taken to the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex.

The city said the solid waste department explained reasons for this change varied from staffing issues to equipment failure. The city said its administration was never told about the situation or asked to help, and the public was never told about it. 

“The city of Clearwater has professed to be stewards of the environment. We have adopted Greenprint 2.0 and have hired an energy consultant to help us reduce our energy usage in city buildings,” Interim City Manager Jennifer Poirrier is quoted in a Jan. 12 news release. “Our actions as stewards of the public’s money spent on our recycling program has not matched what we said we stand for, and that is not acceptable. We have also not been open and transparent with our residents.”

The city posted an update to its website on Jan. 24, which said the city has been collecting three or four semi truckloads of single-stream recycling per day since Jan. 12 and bringing two or three truckloads to Waste Management for recycling. It said the rest are being stored at the city’s recycling facility for processing later or are being mixed with garbage taken to Pinellas County’s facility for disposal. The city said it’s working to land a long-term contract with a recycling processor.

At Monday’s meeting, council members discussed issuing full or partial recycling charge credits to customers. Chief Innovation Officer and Interim Solid Waste Director Micah Maxwell said a partial credit would be the difference in the cost of transporting recyclables to the waste-to-energy facility rather than to Waste Management.

Maxwell said for July-December, a partial credit would amount to $4.66 per residential single-family household and cost the city $177,056. A full credit would amount to $20.22 per household and cost the city $1,123,417. Maxwell said both total amounts also include commercial and multi-family homes, although he could not give an exact per-customer amount for those.

Crediting municipal partners Safety Harbor and Belleair were also discussed. Maxwell said Safety Harbor would receive $62,925 for a full credit and $22,343 for a partial.

Belleair would get a full credit of $64,978 and partial credit of $5,002. The partial credit, in this case, would be based on processing fees.

“I think a full reimbursement when we still have transportation costs, tipping fees, and everything else, I think, is an unwise use of resources,” said Mayor Frank Hibbard.

Council members disagreed.

“It involved effort from our citizens to do what they did, and they fully expected it to be recycled — not just picked up. And it was our error, and it was our error for six months,” said Council member Lina Teixeira.

“I think it’s right to give a full credit,” said Council member Kathleen Beckman.

Beckman said the city’s $40 million in reserves played into her decision. According to city Communications Director Joelle Castelli, that’s $25 million above what the city is required to have in reserves. 

“We have $40 million that’s been sitting there, and that’s weighed on my decision, as well. I think it will make it easier to make it right and move on,” said Beckman.

Former Clearwater resident Alex Slezak dropped bottles off at the recycling bins outside the solid waste department Monday evening. Slezak said she recently moved to Pasco County but was a long time city resident and still works there.

“I’m an accountability person, first and foremost,” Slezak said. 

Slezak said she thinks any credit for customers would be a step in the right direction, but that’s not all she’d like to see.

“I would even prefer more than monetary compensation, I would just prefer accountability to know who’s making the decisions in our community and how we can keep that from happening again and making sure that communication is transparent to all parties,” Slezak said.

The council is expected to discuss credits at its Thursday meeting. Castelli said they expected a decision at that time.