Community Partnership | St. Lucie, FL
Foodservice Packaging Materials Accepted
Paper cups*Paper bags
Pizza boxes
Molded fiber carriers/takeout containers
Molded fiber egg cartons
Aluminum foil containers/pans/trays
Plastic cups
Plastic clamshells/containers
Rigid plastic cups
Rigid plastic clamshells/containers
*New items added during partnership
Background
In 2020, St. Lucie County, Florida offered single-stream curbside recycling services to its 234,000 households. For residents without access to curbside recycling, there was the option to drop off recyclables at the St. Lucie County Baling and Recycling Facility. This materials recovery facility (MRF) is owned and operated by St. Lucie County and also serves the recycling needs of neighboring Indian River County and Martin County.
Established in 2014, the County's MRF set its sights on boosting its recycling rate, which initially stood at 39 percent. It transitioned from dual-stream to single-stream recycling, utilizing a comprehensive educational campaign to emphasize the importance of recycling. Additionally, it began capturing landfill gas from decomposing waste, converting it into a usable fuel source. With determination, the County aimed to achieve its recycling rate target of 75 percent by 2020.
Operational and End Market Planning
St. Lucie's Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) boasts a processing capacity of 15 tons of recyclables per hour. The County set its sights on elevating recovery rates by introducing new materials into its recycling operations, specifically paper cups.
Leveraging FPI's track record of successful community partnerships as evidence of paper cup recyclability, and securing approval from St. Lucie's collaborating mills, the County began including paper cups in its mixed paper bales. The MRF then sold this high-quality fiber to mills in the southeastern region, where it is processed into new recycled-content products.
Outreach & Education
With the support of a communications grant from FPI, St. Lucie County initiated an educational campaign aimed at informing residents about the additions to the recycling program and highlighting the full suite of foodservice items that were now accepted curbside. FPI's grant funded various educational components including a recycling education video, the creation of an updated recycling flyer, engaging social media outreach, and the implementation of a residential recycling survey, complete with a prize drawing.
Results
St. Lucie County became a leader in Florida with its recycling efforts, both by adding paper cups and containers to its program and educating residents on proper recycling. The outreach campaign generated 742 recycling survey respondents as well as 70K impressions and 3K clicks on Facebook ads.
Post-campaign MRF audit results are pending and will be updated when complete.
Next Steps
St. Lucie County has remained committed to its waste diversion endeavors by implementing programs for hard-to-recycle items. These initiatives include recycling polystyrene at the Solid Waste Facility and managing plastic bags and wrap through the County's Wrap Recycling Action Program.
November 2022
