3 4 Each component of the system is designed to find the best use for incoming waste and minimize the amount sent to the landfill. The clean, renewable energy (electricity) created by combusting the lowest-value waste further reduces the community’s demand for natural resources and diverts a large percentage of waste from the landfill. By investing a few minutes to learn about proper recycling and disposal methods for household chemicals and other wastes, you can become a community steward and help ensure the natural beauty of Lee County is preserved for all to enjoy. Each week you put your trash, yard waste and recyclables at the curb and may never think about where it goes. Or, maybe you think it’s all hauled away and buried in a landfill somewhere – out of sight, out of mind. That may be the case in many parts of the United States, but we do things differently in Lee County, Florida. We view waste as a resource. Lee County’s integrated waste management system provides a financially responsible and environmentally sound approach to handling the community’s waste stream, allowing Lee County residents to retain the value of their waste. The Lee County Solid Waste management system includes the following components: • A waste-to-energy facility • A countywide curbside recycling program • A material recycling facility • A construction and demolition debris recycling facility • A household chemical waste drop off facility • A yard waste processing operation • A compost production facility • Five mulch distribution locations • Two transfer stations in Hendry County • The Lee/Hendry landfill • A fleet maintenance shop Introduction to the Lee County Solid Waste Division Lee County Solid Waste is a community partner with long-running public - private agreements for the operation and maintenance of the publically-owned disposal facilities listed and the hauling contracts for waste collection in unincorporated Lee County, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach and the Village of Estero. ThecitiesofFortMyers,CapeCoralandSanibelprovide for waste and recycling collection for their residents. Creating energy from waste 24/7 since 1994