ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – The city of St. Augustine Beach will temporarily suspend recycling services for residential customers in early October.
The suspension which is scheduled to begin on Monday, Oct. 4, is the result of an ongoing labor shortage. The regularly scheduled collection will end after the last week in September.
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The city is asking customers to keep their blue bins for when recycling services resume.
A spokesperson for the city told News4Jax that independent contractors are used for recycling services but now the city is actively trying to hire its own employees to do the job.
St. Augustine Beach has become the latest municipality to publicly announce a temporary suspension of recycling services due to labor shortages.
In August, the Clay County Board of Commissioners suspended residential curbside collection of recyclables so the county could dedicate available resources to collect yard waste and garbage. That temporary suspension which began on Aug. 16 included all unincorporated areas of Clay County and the city of Keystone Heights. Collection services in those areas are being evaluated monthly to determine the earliest date that curbside recycling services can resume.
The county established temporary drop-off sites for people to drop off their recyclables. The municipalities of Green Cove Springs, Orange Park, and Penney Farms are under different collection programs and were not affected by this suspension.
Trash and recyclable pick-up have also been a recent problem in Jacksonville that has left many customers upset.
A spokesperson for the Jacksonville Mayor’s Office told News4Jax the city and its contractors are having a problem hiring and keeping solid waste workers. According to the city, this has been a problem since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Labor shortages are currently affecting trash and recyclable pickups in cities across the United States.