CLAY COUNTY – The shiny new garbage truck quietly turned the corner in a Middleburg neighborhood. It approached one of the new FCC Environmental Services trash bins positioned six feet from the curb with the lid facing away from the street.

The driver could have, make that should have, driven past, but since it was the first day FCC started its contract as Clay County’s garbage pickup company, the driver showed leniency by hopping out to see if there was any trash in the can.

With so much negative attention coming from residents and the St. Johns County Council in August, which led to FCC being fired from its contract less than a month after starting service, Clay paid particular attention to FCC’s operation on Tuesday.

According to county spokesperson Laura Christmas, unlike St. Johns, where computer glitches led to thousands of missed pickups, there were only a few problems.

“As of 2 p.m., FCC said it’s picked up between 85-95% of the yard debris and 95% of the trash,” she said. “We haven’t heard of any major issues. So far, it’s been quiet.”

Christmas said the county’ call center received 1,200 calls on Monday – the final day of Waste Management’s contract. Residents wanted to know if their pickup day had changed or if FCC had special rules for how trash must be left at the curb.

On Tuesday, Christmas said the center received 500 calls—and most of those were related to the same questions. The few related to missed pickups were forwarded to FCC.

“We had a few who said they were missed, so we went out and took care of it,” she said. “We have technology on the trucks to see what happened. We meet with FCC every day. Most of the calls today were questions, not complaints.”

The county said FCC worked on Saturday to pick up garbage missed during its first week of service.

Following Hurricane Helene, there were three pickups. FCC will send one truck for garbage and another for yard debris, while the county has hired a third party to pick up hurricane debris.

The FCC trucks utilize an automated arm that picks up the can, lifts it over the truck, and dumps it before returning it to the ground. Each household garbage truck only has a driver, so loose items outside the can can’t be collected.

FCC is responsible for garbage in the county, except for the City of Green Cove Springs and the Town of Orange Park.

Cans must be left with the arrows on the lid pointed toward the road and inches from the curb. If you need a larger can, you can request one from FCC or buy a second can at claycountygov.com/community/garbage-and-recycling/second-garbage-can-information, at any of the county’s libraries or Rosemary Hill Solid Waste Facility.

To find your pickup day, go to claycountygov.com/community/garbage-and-recycling/garbage-pickup-schedule.