'A huge collection effort that's underway': Debris drop off locations in Hillsborough County after Hurricanes

Hillsborough County - Over the weekend, the Ed Radice Sports Complex was transformed into a pop-up yard waste debris site for Hillsborough County residents.

Jay Johnson, a Hillsborough County resident, waited hours in line to dump one of many loads of debris leftover from the recent hurricanes. 

"Actually, this is stuff from Helene," Johnson laughed. "People got devastated by Helene, and then Milton just moved it around."

READ MORE: Hurricane Milton: Death toll rises as Florida recovers from damage 

Josh Bellotti, Engineering and Operations Director for Hillsborough County Public Works, said the same applies to many other residents.

"We have such a huge amount of tree limbs and branches...that yard waste, vegetative type of debris spread across the entire county," said Bellott.

Bellotti described the scale of the debris collection efforts underway in Hillsborough County after the hurricane's.

"It's a huge collection effort that's underway. We have four contracted debris hauling companies that are out there doing curbside pickup," Bellotti said.

Bellotti said that is in addition to the debris collected from self-haulers in the county.

 "If residents are able to bring it themselves and help with the cleanup," said Bellotti.

Bellotti said they will notify residents on their website and social media as they continue to open additional pop-up sites.

The hours for debris collection in Hillsborough County are 7 a.m.- 7 p.m. at the following sites. 

The locations for debris drop-off sites are:

Northwest Transfer Station:

8001 W. Linebaugh Ave, Tampa, FL 33625​

Hillsborough Heights:

6209 County Rd 579, Seffner, FL 33584

Falkenburg Site:

350 N. Falkenburg Road, Tampa, 33619

South County Transfer Station:

13000 US Highway 41, Gibsonton, FL 33534

Bellotti said that self-haulers must arrive at the drop-off sites ready to do most of the heavy lifting of their debris.

"If you plan on coming out, know that you will need to be able to remove the debris from your car yourself," Bellotti said. "While you can bag it up to transport it, you'll have to empty those bags when it's your turn."

Bellotti said that debris dropped off has to be loose to be accepted by the county.

"We can't have those materials bagged. They need to be loose because this material is all going to be mulched and recycled," Bellotti said. 

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