Lee County Solid Waste asks customers to be aware of potential delays in yard waste collections;

Trash collection not affected

Fort Myers, FL, Jan. 7, 2022 – Lee County Solid Waste is asking customers to be aware they may experience delays in pickup of some yard waste beginning Monday because the county’s contracted haulers are reporting critical staffing shortages due to COVID-19.

Solid Waste customers should continue to put out their garbage, recycling and yard waste on their normally scheduled days.

To help mitigate the haulers’ current staffing challenges, Lee County has asked the haulers to prioritize placing the majority of available staff on garbage collection from both residential and commercial areas. The next priority will be recycling, and then yard waste.

“The health and safety of Lee County residents is always our top priority,” Lee County Solid Waste Director Doug Whitehead said. “Removing garbage from the curb in a timely manner is critical for community health. Unfortunately, the pandemic has hit waste-collection crews hard recently, and there aren’t enough healthy drivers to provide the customary level of service.”

Customers should know:

• If you do not have your yard waste or recycling picked up on your regularly scheduled day, there is no need to call your hauler or Solid Waste; those routes will be noted and haulers will collect on a later day.
• If your garbage is not collected, visit www.leegov.com/solidwaste to find your collection area and your hauler’s contact number; customers can also complete a Request For Action form to notify Solid Waste. (Garbage typically is considered waste from household kitchens, for example.)
• You may also experience delayed recycling service, depending on the volume of garbage curbside and available staff. If recycling is not picked up on your regularly scheduled day, contact Solid Waste.

Solid Waste and the haulers are asking residents to be mindful of the amount of yard waste they place at the curb and reduce it, if possible.

Solid Waste will have staff inspectors in the field to monitor the situation. Regular collections will resume as soon as collection crews are able to return to work.

Lee County Solid Waste residential customers reside in unincorporated Lee County as well as the City of Bonita Springs, the Village of Estero, City of Sanibel and the Town of Fort Myers Beach. Please note: There will be no change to collection schedules on the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, which is Monday, Jan. 17.