WINTER PARK, Fla. — As Election Day draws to a close, residents may feel inclined to toss their old campaign signs to the curb.

But a few groups in Central Florida are joining forces to ask Central Floridians to reconsider that plan, and instead, turn in the signs so they can be recycled into fuel cubes.

What You Need To Know

  • Several local governments have partnered with the League of Women Voters to collect old campaign signs

  • The collected signs will be sent to NuCycle Energy, where they’re turned into energy cubes that can be used as a replacement for coal

  • In Winter Park, campaign signs can not be recycled through your curb recycling bins

The city of Winter Park, for one, is urging residents to hand the signs over to them instead of throwing them away.

“If you put this in your normal (recycling) bin at your driveway, your tote, it will contaminate your entire load,” said Winter Park Sustainability Manager Sara Miller.

Campaign signs can’t be recycled by Winter Park residents at the city’s Materials Recovery Facility. So if they end up in a recycling bin, it could cause that the entire bag to go to the landfill.

But the city of Winter Park has partnered with other local governments, as well as the League of Women Voters, to provide another option.

Back in 2020, the groups say they saw major success collecting signs from residents.

“From all of those locations, I think we collected over 22,000 signs,” said Miller. “With Winter Park alone, with our signs, it was 15,000.”

So, where are they taking all those signs? They’re getting shipped off to NuCycle in Plant City.

The signs come in and are "processed into fuel cubes that will actually replace coal,” said Kyle Pukylo, NuCycle Energy's director of sales and procurement.

Once the signs are torn apart, Pukylo said they’re compressed into little cubes that will emerge as an energy source.

Once political signs are turned in for recycling, they're taken to NuCycle Energy in Plant City where they are shredded and compressed into fuel cubes. (Photo courtesy of Winter Park Sustainability Manager Sara Miller)

“It has the same power factor as coal does, and it replaces it at the exact same amount per ton,” he said.

There are several drop-off locations that will run until Sept. 6 at noon. Just look for the big drop off crates or bins. 

Winter Park collection locations:

  • The Cady Way Pool: 2529 Cady Way

  • Mead Botanical Community Garden: 1310 South Denning Dr.

  • Fire Station 64: 1439 Howell Branch Road

City of Orlando collection locations:

  • Andes Campus: 202 Andes Ave.

  • The Packing District Farmers’ Market: 2310 North Orange Blossom Trail

  • Broadway Methodist Church: 406 E. Amelia St.

  • First Unitarian Church of Orlando: 1901 East Robinson St.

There will also be collection bins at select farmers markets.

The program will begin again on Nov. 4 and run through the next election season.