MATERIAL RECYCLING FACILITY (MRF)

View the April 9th, 2024 Public Meeting Presentation

Watch a recording of the April 9th Virtual Meeting


​​Virtual MRF Public Meeting

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PROJECT OVERVIEW


The proposed new Lee County Material Recycling Facility (MRF) will be where all the county’s household and business recycling material is processed. This includes the handling of clean bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and plastic containers. It will be a fully indoor operation. Trucks will tip the materials inside; the machinery will be inside, and the rolling stock will be inside. The facility will only accept household and business recycling material; there will be inspections of inbound material to remove unacceptable materials.

WHY DOES LEE COUNTY NEED THIS NEW FACILITY?


As Lee County continues to grow, Solid Waste’s current Material Recycling Facility is projected to reach capacity for processing materials. Lee County Solid Waste consistently has been ranked as one of the top five recycling communities in the state of Florida. To ensure that the County meets recycling requirements, a facility with increased capacity is necessary.

WHAT THE MRF IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT

What it is: Recovered materials processing Clean bottles, Cans, Paper, Cardboard, Containers Indoor Operations Trucks tip inside Machinery inside Rolling stock inside Accepts household material Inspects inbound material What it is not: Not a waste transfer station No wet garbage No yard waste grinding No hazardous waste Prevented by deed restriction No outdoor processing No dirt roads No operations close to houses No tire processing


View the full presentation from the March 5, 2024 Lee Board of County Commissioners’ meeting.

ZONING OF THE PROPOSED PROPERTY

The property being considered for the new Material Recycling Facility is zoned Industrial General (IG) and designated as Industrial Development on the Future Land Use map. IG Zoning has a minimum 25-foot setback requirement. The proposed site plan for the recycling facility is anticipated to provide a 1,025-foot setback from the property line: 1,000-feet more than would be required for another development. 

Here are a few examples of alternative uses of the property if the county does not purchase the land for the MRF: 

​Freight & Cargo Handling Establishment
Automobile Repair and Services

​Automobile Repair Services.png
Manufacturing, Repair or Wholesale of Lumber & Wood Products
​Freight & Cargo Handling Establishment
Trucking Terminal

​Automobile Repair Services.png
Concrete Batch Plant

View a more comprehensive list of permitted uses in the General Industrial Zoning District here. 

COMMUNICATIONS TIMELINE TO DATE

The communications timeline for this project includes: 

  • March 2023: Lee Board of County Commissioners briefed on status of the property search. 

  • June 2023: Hosted Gulf Coast Landfill Tour with Pelican Preserve Board members. 

  • Aug. 1, 2023: At a publicly noticed meeting, Lee Board of County Commissioners approves purchase of property. 

  • October 2023: Lee County Sold Waste met with Pelican Preserve Board. 

  • November 2023: Lee County Solid Waste invited the public to a meeting at Gateway CDD Board Room.

  • January 2024: Lee County Solid Waste hosted a tour of the MRF at Buckingham for Pelican Preserve Board Members.

  • March 5, 2024: Lee County Solid Waste provided update at regularly scheduled and publicly noticed Lee Board of County Commissioners’ meeting.

  • March 21, 2024: Lee County held a open house-style public information session:
    • Thursday, March 21, 2024
    • 4 – 6 p.m.
    • Gateway Trinity Lutheran Church, 11381 Gateway Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33913

  • April 9, 2024: Lee County held a public information meeting from 4 - 5:30pm at the Pelican Preserve Community Center. A video of this presentation is available here.
Newsletter

Further Information and Reports can be requested through the public records request page.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

To learn more about this project, please explore the below list of frequently asked questions. If you have questions that are not covered, you can contact Lee County Solid Waste at SolidWaste@leegov.com.

The facility will process clean bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and containers. It’s a fully indoor operation. Trucks tip the materials inside, the machinery is inside and the rolling stock is inside. The facility will accept household and business material; there will be inspections of inbound material to remove unacceptable materials.

Lee County closed on the property purchase on April 24, 2024, with construction tentatively planned for 2026 - 2027.

The facility will not be a waste-transfer station. There will be no wet garbage, no tire processing, no yard-waste grinding and no hazardous waste. (Deed restrictions prevent any hazardous waste processing.) There will not be any outdoor processing or dirt roads. No operations will take place close to houses.

All material is contained within the building. Any material that is not acceptable for recycling is reloaded and removed to Buckingham operations the same day it is received. The operator and Lee County inspect recycle loads daily. These inspections include individual carts at the curb and removing them from the residence, if necessary, before contaminated materials reach the facility.

An 18-month search by size, cost, zoning, transportation and seller willingness was conducted to identify a property with the specifications needed for the facility. County staff conducted an internal search of county-owned lands first. There was no land identified that would have avoided the purchase of a new parcel due to zoning, size and transportation infrastructure needs.

Yes. The Buckingham expansion will be used for other materials such as municipal solid waste (wet garbage), construction/demolition recycling, and yard waste grinding, which are all more intense uses than the proposed recycling facility. In addition, the Buckingham site has traffic constraints, as there are more than 1,100 truck entries per weekday.

Preliminary estimates are that the new MRF will serve 100-200 customer trucks per day.

Route trucks and tractor-trailers will enter from the present State Road 82 entrance, not Treeline Avenue. Trucks now use the same arterial roads to get to the current facility, located nearby on Buckingham Road. Current traffic patterns are not expected to be affected. An estimated 100 to 200 vehicles per day are expected to use the site, mostly in early morning and late afternoon.



ADDITIONAL RESOURCES


PROJECT REPORTS & STUDIES

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