Collier County recently reached a 75% recycling rate set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection . County Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Director Kari Hodgson calls this a moment of celebration for the county. “I smile every time. I’m so proud. We were waiting on nerves, you know, on the edges of our seat waiting to hear if we actually hit the 75%,” Hodgson said. “We’ll be having a 75% party in the office to celebrate.”
The Florida Legislature established a statewide weight-based recycling goal of 75% by 2020 through the Energy, Climate Change and Economic Security Act of 2008. The Legislature established interim recycling goals: 40% by 2012; 50% by 2014; 60% by 2016; and 70% by 2018.
Collier is one of five among Florida’s 67 counties to reach the 75% mark. The county recycled 1.5 million tons of the two million tons of waste collected in 2021, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. This is the first time Collier County has reached the statewide goal. Hodgson said Collier County reached a 74% recycling rate in 2020, and then added another 1% “That extra 1% in 2021 was pretty exciting to meet the state goal,” she said.