7. Curbside recycling ends in The Villages as new era in disposal begins

Curbside recycling ended in The Villages in 2020 as a new era in waste disposal began here.

The North Sumter County Utility Dependent District, which serves Villagers in Community Development Districts 1 through 11, agreed to end the recycling program and start sending trash to the Covanta waste-to-energy facility in Okahumpka. Previously, trash from The Villages was trucked to a landfill in Georgia.

NSCUDD touted the change as a move to 100 percent recycling as all of the discarded materials are now being incinerated and the resulting energy transmitted to the grid.

The change was necessitated by a collapse of the market for American recyclables in China and third world nations.    

The NSCUDD board also agreed to raise the waste pickup charge from $19.38 to $22.24 per month, representing a 14.75 percent increase. Villagers will see an increase of 3.25 percent annually for the next nine years.

Lady Lake also ended its curbside recycling program.