Lee County residents say new recycling bins are too large

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Recycling is raising a ruckus in one neighborhood.

People say their new recycling carts are way too big and the county won’t do anything about it.

Lee County is already in the top 10 counties in the state for recycling every year since 2002.

In an effort to achieve a 75 percent recycling goal, they rolled out some new larger bins, 16,000 of them, to Lee County residents.

Every Monday, people living in the Fountain Lakes community take out their recyclables, but this week, there’s a change.

“It’s just too large to handle, to store and to get around with,” said Marvin Harlow.

Everyone with a two-car garage gets a 64-gallon recycle container. People with a single car garage get the smaller one.

“It would take us a month to even begin to fill it up,” said resident Mark Kozemko.

Kozemko says there’s no way he and his wife need a bin this big for recyclables. In fact, he showed us other interesting uses for the cart.

Residents say they don’t have the room for the large container in their garage, and their community doesn’t allow people to store them outside.

The residents’ biggest concern, however, is their neighbor who lives across the street.

“Across the street, we’ve got an 89-year-old lady, she can’t handle it,” said Harlow. “I understand there’s smaller size for people who have a one-car garage. Both my neighbor and myself asked for that and they won’t let us have it.”

WINK News spoke to Lee County Solid Waste Department representatives who say people with a legitimate concern can exchange their new 64-gallon bins for a smaller size. You can contact the department at 239-533-8000.