Florida Landfill Sees Spike in Traffic, 750K More Pounds of Trash

WFLA News 8 recently reported that the stay-at-home order that has us cooking, organizing and renovating has caused a spike in the amount of garbage being taken to landfills.

Polk County, Fl. has seen a 30 percent surge in visits to the landfill and 750,000 more pounds of trash, compared to the same time last year.

“It has put a strain on our resources and personnel in terms of collection,” said Lauren Lengyel, the communications specialist for Polk County Waste & Recycling. “With the greater number of garbage out there, it’s just additional chaos.”

Due to this increased demand, there was a rise in some of Polk County’s 142,000 customers experiencing “miscollections,” which means their trash was not picked up.

“Instead of two trips to the landfill on a route on a given day, they’re taking three so things are taking a little longer and we’re not able to collect as much,” she said.

There are also reported delays at the drop-off site at the landfill and holding times on the customer service line.

Lengyel said they are working to remedy this. “We’re utilizing our customer service agents and doing things on the customer service side, reporting, being in contact with our haulers to let them know what’s going on, to ensure that those essential services are maintained and taken care of,” she said. “We’ve been told by our haulers that they have implemented additional resources in accommodating our customer service needs.”

Lengyel also said that the delays have started to improve.