Stephanie Watson
Program Manager, Recycling & Outreach Programs
Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste (FL)
Stephanie Watson proudly serves at the Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste as the Program Manager in Recycling & Outreach Programs. Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida with almost one million residents.
Stephanie's team provides unique outreach about the County’s integrated solid waste management facility, which includes a 75 MWh, 3,150 tons per day Waste-to-Energy facility, a Class I Landfill, and waste reduction and recycling programs. In February 2020, the county completed its 30-year Solid Waste Master Plan with a Zero Waste to Landfill goal by 2050. Her team is also responsible for preparing the County's annual "Solid Waste Management Report" for submittal to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This report determines the county’s recycling rate. For the last five years, Pinellas County has been top in the state of Florida for recycling!
The county partners with its 24 municipalities to provide consistent messaging on how to correctly recycle through an annual Recycle Guide publication. An online search tool, Where Does It Go?, offers guidance to homes and businesses on what to do with items that are no longer useful by providing local resources for reuse, recycling, and recovery. Through regional partnerships, such as "Tampa Bay Recycles" and “Reduce Your Use Tampa Bay,” Pinellas County collaborates with its cities, Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa to create consistent and simple messaging on how to recycle correctly and reduce waste throughout Tampa Bay.
Before joining Pinellas County in 2015, Stephanie spent 16 years at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Southwest District office) in the field of solid waste regulation, including compliance, enforcement, and permitting. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from University of South Florida.
Stephanie's team provides unique outreach about the County’s integrated solid waste management facility, which includes a 75 MWh, 3,150 tons per day Waste-to-Energy facility, a Class I Landfill, and waste reduction and recycling programs. In February 2020, the county completed its 30-year Solid Waste Master Plan with a Zero Waste to Landfill goal by 2050. Her team is also responsible for preparing the County's annual "Solid Waste Management Report" for submittal to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This report determines the county’s recycling rate. For the last five years, Pinellas County has been top in the state of Florida for recycling!
The county partners with its 24 municipalities to provide consistent messaging on how to correctly recycle through an annual Recycle Guide publication. An online search tool, Where Does It Go?, offers guidance to homes and businesses on what to do with items that are no longer useful by providing local resources for reuse, recycling, and recovery. Through regional partnerships, such as "Tampa Bay Recycles" and “Reduce Your Use Tampa Bay,” Pinellas County collaborates with its cities, Hillsborough County, and the City of Tampa to create consistent and simple messaging on how to recycle correctly and reduce waste throughout Tampa Bay.
Before joining Pinellas County in 2015, Stephanie spent 16 years at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Southwest District office) in the field of solid waste regulation, including compliance, enforcement, and permitting. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from University of South Florida.
