ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Now that the 2024 election is over, the cities of Orlando and Winter Park, the League of Women Voters, Orange County and Volusia County will collect campaign signs for recycling.
The majority of election signs are made of plastic No. 5 and are not recycled by most recyclers.
In Volusia County, the drop-off site will be at the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences office at 3100 E New York Ave. in DeLand. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 22 and 23. Signs brought to the site will be sent to a specialized recycling center.
Signs collected at the Orange County and community sites will be transformed into a cleaner energy source through Nov. 17.
Wood and metal frames must be removed from signs before donating. Each location in Orange County will have marked blue bins or crates for easy drop-off of signs and stands, and signs can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.
“The intent is to avoid sending these single-use signs to the landfill,” said Aimee Krivan, pollution prevention program coordinator with Orange County’s Environmental Protection Division. “We have found a way for the signs to have a second life.”
The signs are sent to NuCycle in Plant City and converted into Enviro-Fuelcubes®, which the cement and electrical power industries use to replace coal. According to Orange County, the program diverted 11,140 pounds in campaign signs from the landfill in 2022, its first year. The city of Orlando said more than 14,000 single-use election signs were diverted from the landfill during the primary election.
Collection sites In Orange County are:
- Broadway United Methodist Church
406 E. Amelia St. in Orlando - First Unitarian Church
1901 E. Robinson St. in Orlando - Solid Waste Management
1028 Woods Ave. in Orlando - Porter Transfer Station
1326 Good Homes Road in Orlando - Northwest Community Center and Pool
3955 W D Judge Dr. in Orlando - Cady Way Pool
2529 Cady Way in Winter Park - Mead Botanical Garden
1310 S. Denning Dr. in Winter Park - Winter Park Fire Department — Station 64
1439 Howell Branch Road in Winter Park