Polk County will open a trash drop off site to curb illegal dumping

That threadbare couch or bald tires in the backyard need not be tossed into the woods or the swamp anymore.  

To help put a dent in illegal dumping, the Polk County Commission on April 21 approved a one-year pilot project for a Northeast Landfill Solid Waste Customer Convenience Center at 4001 Bannon Island Road in Haines City.

Residential trash now has a final resting place, especially in the northeast region of Polk County, minus stuff like propane tanks and paint cans, which would not be accepted. 

Polk County offering early-adopter gate fees based on vehicle types 

The board action set gate fees, among other expenditures. The rate structure for residential disposal will be by vehicle type.

• Car/SUV/Pickup: $10
• Vehicle with less than a 6-foot utility or enclosed trailer: $18  
• Vehicle with 6 foot to16 foot utility or enclosed trailer: $27  
• Tires: $5 each

Residents must show proof of residency and only payments by debit or credit cards will be accepted. No commercial entities will be allowed to use the facility, including no automated dump trailers.  

Hours of operation

• Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  
• Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

When will it open?

The half-million-dollar facility is on target to open on June 1. A public awareness campaign is in development by Polk County’s communications division.  

The pricing is similar to that of scaled waste at Polk County landfills, but the pilot is being subsidized the first year, after which the program will be reviewed.   

If the pilot is successful, the county may index fee increases over multiple years to make sure the facility does not lose money in the long run, but only if that is necessary. 

The more popular the program becomes, the less of an increase in fees would be necessary because higher volumes of residential trash collected would add efficiencies to the program.   

Volunteers collect 100s of tons of garbage each year in Polk County

Volunteers with the county-supported nonprofit Keep Polk County Beautiful Inc. collected 208.83 tons of garbage and old tires in just one of its annual countywide collections during 2024-2025.

The total waste collected from its “Clean It Up to Green It Up” curbside cleanup program and tire collection events for the fiscal year 2024-25 unearthed 208.83 tons of waste, including 417,660 pounds of garbage and 10,187 tires.

From old mattresses and refrigerators, the actual tonnage of trash collected across Polk County is even higher.

“These numbers do not include our illegal dumpsite cleanup assistance, Adopt-A-Road, Great American Cleanup and Community Cleanup Programs,” said Katie Hayes, executive director of KPCB.

According to the Polk County website, illegal dumping in Polk County is a serious offense, with over 500 pounds considered a felony. An average household refrigerator can weigh between 200 and 400 pounds, says Movers.com.

“It causes environmental damage, reduces property values, and attracts vermin,” the website said. “The county strictly enforces against this, utilizing cameras and surveillance, particularly in hotspots like Poinciana.”

County solid waste explained details of the program

“The purpose of this is to combat illegal dumping,” Solid Waste Director Brian Cogswell said at the April 17 agenda review. Funds are available in the Solid Waste Operations budget for the pilot.

Commissioner Michael Scott expressed concerns that the gate rates were potentially too low, so he requested that staff calculate the break-even point in terms of the amount of volume or vehicles needed to use the pilot facility.  

The commissioners came under fire from constituents for the hefty increases in trash collection fees in recent years, and they will continue to rise throughout the term of a five-year indexing plan. 

“If this is hugely successful, there may not be much of an increase,” Cogswell said. He explained the truck taking the dumpster to the landfill is a fixed cost, so the larger the load the truck hauls away, that helps to reduce the per vehicle cost.

He added that illegal dumping, which the pilot is expected to reduce, adds to costs for the Solid Waste Division because he has to send a truck to pick up items dumped in a citrus grove or the side of the road.

The pilot drop off convenience center will be at the entrance to northeast landfill, which will get some minor renovations to the scale house, appropriate signage such as a list of items accepted and several 40-yard dumpsters staged along the road behind the entrance. For their safety, residents will not be able to drive through the actual landfill.  

The pilot facility will have a small crew of about three employees and will need to lease a roll-off truck. The truck would transport the dumpsters from the pilot facility to the north central landfill at least once daily.

The scale in the northeast will not be utilized for the pilot since the pricing is per vehicle, pricing is compatible with the fees at the north central landfill and collection of fees will be cashless.

While dump trailers are not allowed, unless the load is actual residential waste and not commercial waste, all trailers will need to be unloaded by hand into the dumpsters.