SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Sarasota County will not pick up your yard waste if it’s on the curb in plastic bags starting Monday.

It’ll be tagged and left at the curb until it is in the proper container.

The county said eliminating plastic bags will save about $300,000 each year. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce waste.

Each year, tens of thousands of tons of yard waste ends up here at the county landfill in Nokomis, where it’s littered with plastic bags.

“By eliminating plastic bags out of the yard waste stream, it will help with the processing of our yard waste materials,” said Wendi Crisp with Sarasota County Solid Waste. “Right now, those materials are emptied by hand before they are ground up and turned to mulch and repurposed.”

Residents in unincorporated Sarasota County now need to put their leaves, tree trimmings, and other yard waste material in paper bags, reusable containers such as trash cans, or in bundles less than 40 pounds and smaller than 4 feet long and 16 inches around.           

Some residents have expressed concerns.

“The county should give us the paper bags to do that with because the cost and expense of doing that is going to be a lot higher for each individual family here,” resident Bridgette Wenzel said.

This change aims to cut down on costs and waste while increasing sustainability.