Letter: Recycling Trailer Update

To Residents and Visitors to Cedar Key,

Over the holidays, the recycling trailers at the Cedar Key Recycle Center across from the Cedar Key Market have been overflowing. There are three reasons for this.

FIRST, our community keeps increasing the recycling tonnage. This is great news and further supports the need for curbside recycling.

SECOND, as you probably realize, 4 out of 10 working days during the last two weeks of December were holidays for Levy County employees. Since the drivers from the Levy County Waste Management facity are responsible for picking up full containers and bringing empty trailers to the Recycle Center, our service was significantly disrupted. On average, we fill a green residential recycling container every 4 to 5 days and a white business trailer every 5 to 6 days. Our volunteers notififed the Waste Management Center, but there were just not enough work days to keep up with the demand over the holidays.

THIRD , the cold weather shut down the entire recycling operation at the County facility. Inmates, who sort the material from the recycle trailers, are not allowed to work when the temperature is 35 or below. So no trailers have been emptied. When an empty trailer has come, volunteers quickly cleaned up the site just as we have been doing all along. We checked at City Hall, there has only been one complaint received about the Recycling Center over the last ten months.

Hope this helps you understand the situation. Thank you for your patience.

Tom Deverin
Cedar Key Energy Advisory Panel