Recycling services will continue in the city of Miami after threats of elimination
The city of Miami has abandoned plans to eliminate its citywide recycling program and scale back bulky waste pickup services — for now.
The City Commission was scheduled on Thursday to take a preliminary vote on a proposal to eliminate its recycling services and to scale back bulky waste pickup from once a week to every other week. In explaining its reasoning, the city had cited high contamination rates of recycled materials, an “aging fleet and outdated machinery,” and contractors and landscapers taking advantage of the bulky waste pickup system.
But officials announced at Thursday’s meeting that the item had been withdrawn altogether. A city spokesperson said the item was withdrawn “to further review and evaluate more options.”
To address the contamination issues, the city will continue inspecting recycling bins while also “educating residents on proper recycling practices,” according to Communications Director Kenia Fallat. In addition to that, the city will “persist in hosting landscaper classes and issuing permits while addressing landscapers in the field” regarding bulky waste disposal, Fallat said.
The proposed legislation would have allowed the city to stop its biweekly recycling collection services by giving the Solid Waste Department director “the power to establish the type, frequency and amount, if at all, of City-serviced recycle pickup in all areas of the City.”
Fallat previously said that the city had conducted audits across different neighborhoods that showed contamination levels among recycled materials exceeded 70% in some places, meaning “more than two-thirds of the materials placed in recycling bins cannot be processed.“
The city said the high contamination rates suggest a “widespread misunderstanding” about what materials can be recycled.
“When contamination is this severe, it can render entire loads unusable,” Fallat previously said.
The proposal would have also scaled back the city’s bulky waste pickup service, which currently happens on a weekly basis. The city had previously stated that bulky waste pickup had become “a source of abuse by outside entities,” including by contractors and landscapers who should take their waste to dumps, putting an “inordinate burden on City residents and City finances.”
The city had said that the changes would save money for residents and could allow the city to avoid raising its annual trash fee for residents. The city’s annual household trash fee has been flat for years, remaining at $380 per year since 2010.
Last summer, the City Commission voted to increase the cap on the annual fee per household from $380 to $440. Increasing the cap didn’t change the actual fee, but it gives the city permission to raise it at a future date. However, the city said Thursday that it does not currently have plans to raise the fee.
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM.
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