PLANT CITY, Fla. – In 2021, the City of Plant City’s Solid Waste Department will launch an automated collection system they named Cart-To-Curb.
After much planning and receiving feedback from Plant City residents, details about Phase One of the new program have been released:
Phase One will go live in late summer 2021.
The automated waste collection system will start in half of the City, in only residential areas and primarily in planned neighborhoods, where streets are wide and easy to navigate. These routes were designed for safety, optimal driving efficiency and to balance the collection of tons of solid waste. High-speed roads with high volumes of vehicular traffic are included because these create major safety concerns for our manual-collection operators. Phase Two will begin about a year later, in late summer of 2022.
The Cart-To-Curb Phase One Roll Out will take place as delineated on the included map:
· The blue areas on the map represent Monday and Thursday pickups.
· The green areas represent Tuesday and Friday pickups.
If a homeowner’s location is not on the map, their automated waste collection will begin in 2022, during Phase Two.
Residents in Phase One must choose a cart size by April 30, 2021.
Plant City’s Solid Waste Department will send out a mailer to all Phase One residents in early April asking them to choose a cart size from among three available sizes by April 30. The special carts are essential for the new process since they are designed to be picked up by the trucks’ automated arms. Phase One households that don’t make a selection by the deadline will receive the largest cart by default.
To determine which will be adequate for the amount of solid waste their household usually puts out at the curb, residents can see the carts in person at
- City Hall, 302 W. Reynolds Street
- Sadye Gibbs Martin Community Center, 302 South Maryland Ave.
- Bruton Memorial Library, 302 McLendon Street
or at any of the presentations being hosted around the city by homeowners’ associations, churches, civic and social groups and other organizations.
The current level of service will continue—twice weekly collection, once-a-week recycling and yard waste collection, bulk items collected as needed and one free grabber load per year—all for one monthly fee set by cart size. The rates will be $27.50 for a 95-gallon cart, $25.50 for a 65-gallon cart and $23.00 for a 35-gallon cart. Front door service will still be provided for qualified residents.
Learn more and/or provide feedback:
- Click here to go directly to the Solid Waste Department webpage.
- Visit www.plantcitygov.com, click on the Departments & Services tab, then click on Solid Waste. A very informative video of the Cart-To-Curb Automated Trash System pops up to show how the system works.
- Click on the Cart-To-Curb Automated Trash Collection tab on the left side of the page to:
- Participate in a survey.
- Request a virtual or in-person presentation.
- Read FAQs.
“We’re excited to move forward with this project, for the sake of our community and our employees,” said Jill Sessions, director of the City of Plant City’s Solid Waste Department. “It’s such a clean, sanitary and efficient system, and it greatly enhances the safety of our employees and the longevity of their careers, since it reduces the physical labor requirements of waste collection.”
Sessions said her department realizes that residents have questions and concerns, and the success of this program depends on feedback from the community.
“We want to make sure every voice is heard. Please fill out our survey and include your name and contact information if you want us to get back to you. Schedule and attend a presentation. Check out our ‘frequently asked questions’ online,” she said. “This rollout will be most successful and least complicated if we educate and get input from as many people as possible before it happens.”
To contact Plant City’s Department of Solid Waste, call (813) 757-9049 or email solidwaste@plantcitygov.com. More information is available online at www.plantcitygov.com or scan this QR code with your mobile device:
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