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Recycling pickup to be suspended starting Monday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Until further notice, the city of Jacksonville is putting curbside recycling on hold. It means you will have to take recycling to drop sites or put it out with the trash, despite what you pay in property taxes.

Mayor Lenny Curry announced the temporary suspension last week to help the city catch up on missed trash and yard debris collections, which have been piling up for months.

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There will be 14 drop-off locations across Jacksonville for residents to bring their recycling.

The city stated it’s not sure how long this will last, but recycling will come back as soon as both household and yard waste collections are caught up.

Some neighbors like Dee Thomas aren’t too happy about it.

“It’s going to be a temporary fix. But I think down the road it’s going to cause a bunch of issues,” Thomas said.

Action News Jax drove by several locations on Sunday and found most dumpsters were close to, if not, full. Specifically, the locations in Riverside Park, William Sheffield Regional Park and Normandy Park are overflowing, and the process hasn’t even begun.

Other residents — including Walter, who lives near the Earl Johnson Park location — think the suspension isn’t the worst idea but know there will be adjustments along the way; he dropped off recycling on Sunday.

“We are definitely going to need more dumpsters or very frequent pickups,” he said.

The suspension comes after a plethora of issues since our first investigation in March. Most recently, there were over 14,000 complaints to the city in August.

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As of late September, Action News Jax reporter Ben Ryan learned the city also spent over $90,000 in overtime hours to help pick up trash, recycling, yard waste and bulk.

Mandarin neighbor Marc Reeder, said he helped clean up the William Sheffield Regional Park location on Saturday. Once he saw the mess on Sunday, he was upset and said it shouldn’t have even been there in the first place.

“We pay taxes for this. What are we paying for?” he said.

Several residents told Action News Jax they want someone to monitor these locations. However, a spokesperson with the city told Action News Jax on Sunday that, just like at home, there won’t be anyone monitoring.

The spokesperson said it’s crucial people follow the same rules and guidelines on what they can and can’t recycle.

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