Cape Coral to negotiate new contract with Waste Pro, neighbors split opinions

The City of Cape Coral agreed to negotiate a new contract to extend the services of Waste Pro USA, and the waste management service hopes to be picked up for another five years.

This comes after the city received hundreds of neighbor complaints about the trash services in 2018. Still, there are neighbors in Cape Coral who are completely satisfied with the service they have continued to receive.

“I never had any complaints except with their yard waste pickup,” Ricky Souza said.

Souza said a pile of bamboo and palm fronds sat in front of his home in Cape Coral for weeks earlier this summer.

“I was left with a big pile in front of my house, and they left a sticker that it was not acceptable for Waste Pro pickups,” Souza said. “They still did not pick them up after I had them banded according to how they wanted it. It sat for a few weeks. I left a sign that said, ‘Banded, please remove, thank you.’”

Meanwhile, other longtime homeowners maintain they have never had issues with the Waste Pro service.

“They’re great,” Barbara Atwood said. “They always make sure the streets are clean. They don’t litter. And if they do, they pick it right back up.”

Hella Bogart said Waste Pro was on the ball when she moved to Southwest Florida from Europe.

“We had a lot of trash after we moved,” Bogart said. “Obviously, we brought a container over from Germany. Lots of boxes, big boxes, they picked up everything. We have not had an issue with them.”

The city told us it’s looking at making changes to its bulk trash ordinance along with the negotiations with Waste Pro. A city spokesperson said changes would include help with big piles of trash from people moving and other non-complaint trash.

Souza said he would be satisfied with better service from Waste Pro.

“I think if they were willing to step up what they do for us, I don’t see why we couldn’t pay more for their service,” Souza said.

MORE: Cape Coral residents react to trash collection price increase