Florida recycling system should be overhauled to make more sustainable, new study shows

TAMPA, Fla. - A new study shows Florida recycling systems should be overhauled to make the practice sustainable in the long term. Cities and counties across the Tampa Bay area have struggled to keep their programs profitable and less wasteful. 

The new study was done by a Florida Polytechnic professor and says recycling needs to be overhauled in the state after six municipalities have either canceled or greatly altered their program.

The study said the key is for cities and counties to focus on the recyclables that can be sold for the most. It says there should be focus on what are called "high value" products, which are considered plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard.

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"One thing we need to take from the study is we need a mindset shift of how we view recycling," said study co-author Malak Anshassi. "We also need to consider that yes it is going to cost us something, but it is going to cost us less than a cup of coffee a day."

The study said there should be less focus on straws and bottle caps, which there aren't huge markets for.

"The difficulty is making sure everybody understands what to put in the bin and that it's going to be very, very different depending on where you live, even just within the same county," Anshassi said.

One of the biggest drivers of costs are people who put materials into bins that are not recyclable.

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"If you think about what you are recycling, and you put the right things in the bin, it can actually save you money," said Keyna Cory of the Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation.

There is not only a consistent market for those materials, but aggressively recycling them cuts down on the environmental impact of manufacturing those products out of the earth.

The study found that around 30% of total household waste is recycled.

"We hate it when a local government stops their programs," said Cory. "Our whole idea is to look at the program and say are you gaining anything by stopping it. As you can see from some of the results, it's only a dollar to twelve dollars a year."

But the cost of that to cities increased by 38%, from $167 a year per household in 2011 to $230 in 2020.

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"If we really concentrate on recycling those things that there are markets for today, that have a value to them, let's do that," said Cory.

The study also said the collection frequency, the size of the bins and educating residents is critical. They said that eliminating programs can substantially increase the amount of greenhouse gases produced, while only saving cities a few dollars per resident per year.

"You could break even, and you could even generate a benefit from your greenhouse gas perspective," said Anshassi. "From a climate mitigation perspective, that's about like five times on average more beneficial than what you're doing now."