By: Arlene Karidis, Freelance writer, Waste360
Recycle Florida Today (RFT), celebrating its 35th anniversary, has grown from a grassroots effort into a key player shaping Florida’s waste and recycling policies through education, advocacy, and collaboration. As the state prepares for new legislation and recycling goals, RFT is advancing sustainable materials management strategies, launching initiatives like a recycling-themed license plate to support local programs and reinforce Florida’s circular economy.
This is a landmark year for Recycle Florida Today (RFT). The Sunshine State’s industry trade association is celebrating 35 years in operation. Florida’s waste and recycling landscape has seen big changes in that time, and with these evolutions, RFT has evolved too.
The group, launched by four of the state’s earliest recycling coordinators, has grown to about 200 members involved in a spectrum of activities. They work to shape policy. RFT facilitates conferences enlightening industry pros on topics from how to win grants to collection and processing strategies. And members reach out to the public and policymakers, explaining the merits of waste prevention.
Among its early work the organization supported implementation of the 1998 Florida Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act, which set guidelines for collecting, recycling, and disposing solid waste.
Today members are helping lay the groundwork for a pending law to take the state plan further. The aim is to move from diversion-focused mandates to an integrated, sustainable materials management strategy that addresses materials throughout their whole life.
Unstable economic times, compounded by recent state waste and recycling grant cuts, have called for creativity in supporting budget-strapped communities. RFT is turning to a new funding mechanism: a license plate displaying the iconic “chasing arrows” symbol against a Florida-centric backdrop of palms trees and a blazing sunset.
The plates are debuting now, with proceeds to funnel into RFT’s foundation to support grants for awareness campaigns, school programs, and tools to help communities increase recycling participation and reduce contamination.
“The goal is to create a self-sustaining revenue stream that directly reinvests in Florida’s circular economy,” says Timothy M. Lamontagne, operations manager, Lee County Solid Waste Department and vice chairman, Recycle Florida Today.
The idea is for small jurisdictions with few resources to continue their work and take it further, and for the specialized plates to draw public attention to pressing priorities.
“The license plate design was chosen to represent recycling, Florida, and the natural environment. The bright colors and images speak loudly for the planet, reminding everyone to recycle,” says Heather Armstrong, Recycle Florida Today executive director.
The state is awaiting a new recycling goal after missing a 75 percent target set for 2020; today Floridians recover about 50 percent of their recyclables (compared to the estimated 32 percent national average, based on U.S. EPA’s 2018 figures).
The new quantitative goal should be forthcoming with HB295, which directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop an updated waste reduction and recycling plan by July 1, 2026.
“As we [await more details], RFT advocates for renewed, data-driven goals that reflect today’s economic and environmental realities. We’re ready to support progress through collaboration and innovation to move Florida toward higher recovery benchmarks,” Lamontagne says.
Besides setting recycling goals the pending plan will establish incentives for private businesses to increase their recycling rates, as well as prioritize infrastructure investment, education, and market development.
The concept of RFT was conceived on a back porch in Tampa at the home of Barbara Heineken, one of the association’s co-founders.
“It was four of us women who got together at a time when there was so much new happening in recycling,” Heineken recalls.
They had met in training for their new jobs as county recycling coordinators.
“We all had a lot on our plates to develop and roll out recycling. We decided to start our own state association to help all the new coordinators navigate program implementation,” Heineken says.
They guided their first members on how to do outreach and in reporting to the state. And they provided them with a forum to share ideas and program success stories.
The initiatives kept expanding, and new partnerships began to evolve that continue taking shape.
RFT affiliated with the US Composting Council to form the Florida Composting Council and collaborates with the home-based chapter on education, covering topics such as food waste management, PFAS, and ways to be good stewards of the soil.
Compost was actually a focus from early on, beginning with the launch of the Florida Organics Recycling Association, which later became the trade group’s organics recycling committee.
“It has allowed for us to bridge gaps in waste management when few were talking about what to do with organics.
“Managing this stream has been especially important here in Florida where we have hurricanes that leave tons of disaster debris that has to be dealt with,” Armstrong says.
One standout collaboration this year was with Coca-Cola Beverages Florida. The two organizations co-hosted an Environmental Lunch and Learn presentation at the manufacturing giant’s bottle plant where Coca-Cola showcased its closed-loop recycling operations.
For FoodRecovery.org, who salvages and donates edible food nationwide, the trip to the Tampa plant was a chance to reconnect with industry peers at RFT – food recovery is part of the broader sustainability picture, so the collaboration makes sense, says Emily Grant, director of operations, FoodRecovery.org.
The plant tour was an opportunity to make more connections.
“Attending the plant tour allowed me an initial introduction to Coca- Cola to see if we might receive future donations. It has opened the door for a potential relationship,” Grant says.
Validating what they support is important, so RFT collaborates with the Hinkley Center at the University of Florida to integrate research on sustainable materials management into public practice.
Topics include landfill alternatives, recycling markets, and policy design.
“The partnership helps ground our programming and advocacy in science and data,” Lamontagne says.
Moving forward, there is much to prove out in the complex waste and recycling world. Making more headway will take strong collaboration and clear, realistic goals to work toward—and pending policy will be key, says Sue Flak, recycling coordinator for Indian River County and Recycle Florida Today executive board member.
“Working in partnership with DEP, the industry will craft a plan of action that sets the stage for a new state recycling and diversion goal. This will enhance opportunity to increase Florida’s recycling rate,” Flak says.
“That’s our goal, as well as to increase awareness. We need to get the word out there that [HB295] has passed, and this is what’s coming.”
