Pinellas County Solid Waste (PCSW) manages the county’s landfill, numerous recycling programs, and one of the largest Waste-to-Energy (WTE) facilities in the United States. Improper consumer actions stemming from misinformation and a lack of knowledge have been a challenge to the recycling industry.
HCP Associates worked with PCSW leadership and staff to understand current outreach and educational initiatives, ongoing services, and programs. This led to the creation and implementation of the Pinellas County Residential Recycling Awareness Survey.
Starting in 2020, the survey leveraged a telephonic methodology to reach a representative sample of 800 Pinellas County residents. The results measured recycling participation, motivating and demotivating factors, and identified practices that are contributing to improper recycling, enabling PCSW to tailor its outreach to maximize recycling participation and minimize improper recycling habits.
Follow-up studies were conducted in 2024 and 2026 to measure changes in participation, practices, and awareness while also allowing PCSW to explore other topics of interest.
In 2026, 80% of Pinellas County residents recycled via one or more modes. This included participating in curbside recycling, utilizing recycling services at a multifamily complex, or taking recyclables to a county drop-off center. Ninety-one (91) percent of single-family residents participated in curbside recycling in 2026. For those living in a multifamily residence, 64% cited that their complex offered recycling. Of that percentage, 91% participated in recycling. Regardless of the type of dwelling respondents live in, the reasons for recycling remain the same: to protect the earth, because it is the right thing to do, and to reduce what is going into the landfill.
Ultimately, a large portion of Pinellas County residents are eager to recycle, but there remain key knowledge gaps about proper recycling and disposal habits. Primary recommendations extracted from data and analysis are: continue community engagement efforts with recycling, consider future studies that focus on specific types of items to gain deeper insights, and articulate the state of the landfill and potential policy actions to meet the Department’s Zero Waste to Landfill goal.