CENTRAL FLORIDA — Now that most of the primary races have been decided, county and municipal leaders in parts of Central Florida are encouraging candidates, campaign staffs and residents to recycle the election signs that were posted and make sure they are put to good use instead of being thrown in the trash.
What You Need To Know
- Cities and counties have set up recycling programs for campaign signs
- Officials don't want the signs to be thrown out and end up in landfills
- Multiple locations are set up until early September to drop them off
- The signs will be taken to NuCycle and PureCycle Technologies to be turned into useful products
In Orange County, the cities of Winter Park and Orlando, the League of Women's Voters and the county have formed a partnership to collect the signs so they can be turned into a clean fuel source.
Collection locations have been set up at seven sites in the county for people to bring the signs starting Wednesday through Sept. 1. Each location will have marked blue bins or crates for drop-off of signs and stands. Remove the wood or metal frames before turning them in.
- Broadway United Methodist Church, 406 E. Amelia St., Orlando
- First Unitarian Church, 1901 E. Robinson St., Orlando
- Solid Waste Management, 1208 Woods Ave., Orlando
- Porter Transfer Station, 1326 Good Homes Road, Orlando
- Cady Way Pool, 2529 Cady Way, Winter Park
- Mead Botanical Garden, 1310 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park
- Winter Park Fire Department – Station 64, 1439 Howell Branch Road, Winter Park
The signs are sent to NuCycle in Plant City, where they are converted into Enviro-Fuelcubes®, which are used by the cement and electrical power industries to replace coal. In the program’s first year in 2022, it diverted 11,140 pounds in campaign signs from the landfill.
“The intent is to not send these single-use signs off to the landfill,” said Aimee Krivan, pollution prevention program coordinator with Orange County's Environmental Protection Division. “We have found a way for these signs to have a second life.”
Seminole County has a similar program. Seminole County Solid Waste and the League of Women's Voters of County are collecting the plastic campaign signs at the Central Transfer Station, 1950 State Road 419 in Longwood. The drop-off site is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, ending after Sept. 3.
The signs will be taken to PureCycle Technologies, where they will be recycled into a resin that can be repurposed and reused.
Seminole County officials said campaign yard signs are not accepted in regular curbside recycling bins because they are made from #5 plastic (polypropylene), which is difficult and costly material to recycle. For that reason, they otherwise often end up in landfills, officials said.