Miami-Dade County, Florida Trash Pickup Schedule & Recycling Rules

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Miami-Dade County trash pickup: collection days, recycling and bulk waste rules.

Miami-Dade trash pickup in unincorporated areas and ten cities is run by the county’s Department of Solid Waste Management. The green garbage cart goes twice a week, Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday, and the blue recycling cart every other week. Your days depend on your address; use the county’s pickup days lookup or call 311. What trips people up: the City of Miami, Hialeah, Coral Gables and other cities run their own garbage service.

• Who collects: Miami-Dade Solid Waste, the county’s Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM), for unincorporated Miami-Dade and Aventura, Cutler Bay, Doral, Miami Gardens, Miami Lakes, Opa-locka, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Sunny Isles Beach and Sweetwater. City of Miami residents: City of Miami Garbage & Recycling ↗
• Your pickup day: depends on your address; Garbage and Recycling Pickup Days lookup ↗ (Garbage & Recycling tab) or 311; the free MDC Solid Waste app texts a reminder the evening before recycling day
• Holiday changes: no garbage pickup on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Independence Day and Christmas as the county observes them; Observed County Holidays ↗
• Missed pickup: file a 311 service request ↗ or call 311; missed recycling within three business days
• Contact: 311 or 305-468-5900 (Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), TTY 711, dswm@miamidade.gov
• Official website: Miami-Dade County: Solid Waste Management ↗

Photo: Miami skyline in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Wilfredor, 2025-04-18. CC0 · Source. Resized for web.

Miami-Dade trash and recycling pickup schedule

DSWM serves more than 340,000 households. First check who serves your address:

For DSWM homes:

• Carts go out by 7 a.m. on your day, within 3 feet of the street, wheels facing your home, and at least 5 feet from mailboxes, parked cars and the other cart.
• The lid must close. Carts with anything sticking out are not serviced, and items stacked on top or left beside the cart are not collected.
• Bag garbage and yard clippings before they go in the green cart. Recyclables go in loose.
• A limited number of homes get manual pickup instead: cans of up to 30 gallons and tied bags by 7 a.m. on both weekly days, each under 50 pounds, with yard clippings bundled no longer than 4 feet.
• Residents with a disability can apply for special assistance collection through 311.
• Businesses must provide recycling through a permitted or private hauler, and condo and apartment buildings must run their own recycling programs.

What goes in the Miami-Dade recycling cart

The county says plastic numbers no longer tell you what is recyclable; it takes plastic bottles whatever the number. Its Recycle Right A to Z ↗ list sorts single items, and the free Scrapp app scans barcodes.

• Yes: newspapers, magazines, catalogs, mail, office paper, books, loose shredded paper, paper cups and paper egg cartons; flattened cardboard, cereal and gift boxes, and pizza boxes; steel and aluminum cans and aluminum bottles; milk and juice cartons and drink boxes; plastic bottles (flatten and put the cap back on); glass bottles; plastic tubs, jugs and cups, including fast food to-go cups.
• No: plastic bags, and never bag recyclables; food-soiled paper or cardboard; plastic utensils, plates, clamshells, trays and hangers; foam; window glass, mirrors, bulbs, cookware and ceramics; wire hangers and small appliances; batteries and electronics; clothes and bedding; hoses and Christmas lights; medical waste; chemicals. Aerosol cans count as hazardous waste here.

Yard waste and food scraps

Grass, leaves and yard trimmings go bagged in the green garbage cart. Larger loads go to a Trash and Recycling Center or into a bulky pickup, with tree limbs no longer than 5 feet. There is no curbside food scrap collection; attendees of DSWM’s free online home composting workshops get a voucher for a free compost bin.

Christmas trees go in the green cart if cut to fit. After Christmas the county takes clean, undecorated trees at listed Trash and Recycling Centers and the West Dade Home Chemical Collection Center and chips them into free mulch for residents in spring; trees left for a bulky pickup are not mulched. The Christmas Tree Recycling page ↗ posts each season’s sites and any curbside tree sweep.

Bulky trash pickup in Miami-Dade

Each DSWM household gets two bulky waste pickups a year of up to 25 cubic yards each, paid for by the annual waste fee. A pile over 25 cubic yards uses up your next pickup too. Duplex owners can combine up to four pickups into one of up to 100 cubic yards.

• Book first, online through Schedule a Bulky Waste Pickup ↗, in the MDC Solid Waste app or by calling 311. You pick the date; appointments open 30 days ahead, with no waitlist.
• Set the pile out no more than three days before the appointment, and by 7 a.m. on the day. An early pile can bring a warning notice or a civil citation.
• Place it within 10 feet of the street, 5 feet from mailboxes, cars, trees, utility poles and sprinkler heads, with 15 feet of clearance under branches and power lines.
• Taken: furniture, rolled carpet, appliances (refrigerator and freezer doors off), water heaters, washers and dryers; mattresses sealed in a plastic mattress bag with packing or duct tape (box springs need no bag); rolled fences up to 5 feet high, wooden fence up to 3 cubic yards; up to 3 cubic yards of construction debris; drained lawnmowers and power tools.
• Refused: microwaves, TVs and other electronics, tires, food waste, auto parts, central air units, fiberglass insulation, liquids, chemicals, oil-based paint, rock, dirt, sand and any item over 150 pounds.
• Cancel online, in the app or through 311 at least two days ahead and clear the curb.
• Out of pickups, or over 50 cubic yards: use a Trash and Recycling Center, request for-fee bulky service with an Excess Yardage Approval form signed by the owner ($32 per cubic yard), or hire a private hauler.

Miami-Dade holiday trash schedule

Garbage is collected on every county holiday except Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Independence Day and Christmas Day as observed; service resumes on your next regular pickup day. Recycling runs as usual unless your 2026 recycling calendar says otherwise. The Trash and Recycling Centers close on the same three days, and the 311 call center closes on holidays.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Household hazardous waste goes to the two Home Chemical Collection Centers, open to residents, not businesses. Pack containers upright in sturdy boxes, lids tight and labeled.

• West Dade Home Chemical Collection Center, 8801 NW 58 Street, Doral, FL 33178. Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• South Dade Home Chemical Collection Center, 23707 SW 97th Ave, Gate B, Homestead, FL 33032. Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Both take: oil-based and liquid latex paint, pesticides, solvents, pool chemicals, computers, TVs, printers, phones and other electronics, unbroken fluorescent bulbs, propane tanks (not RV, forklift or fixed kitchen tanks), empty oxygen tanks and button batteries. The county’s A to Z list adds aerosol cans, rechargeable and lithium-ion batteries, car batteries, motor oil, oil filters, ink cartridges and gasoline (up to two 5-gallon cans).
• Dry out unusable latex paint with kitty litter and put it in the green cart. Alkaline batteries can go in the trash.
• The Chem Again program gives away usable paints and cleaners at both centers, first come, first served.

Home Chemical Drop-Off Mobile Events run several times a year at Trash and Recycling Centers, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., free to all Miami-Dade residents with a Florida driver’s license or ID; they add free document shredding, subject to availability (two banker’s boxes per person). Dates are on the Mobile Events page ↗.

The 13 Neighborhood Trash and Recycling Centers are open daily, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., for DSWM waste fee customers only; the attendant scans your Florida driver’s license or ID against the address list, and a mismatch needs the TRC Access form. Every center takes household trash, tree and yard cuttings, up to 3 cubic yards of construction debris per day and up to 3 cubic yards of fence. Most take up to four car tires and appliances. No food or kitchen garbage, and no vans over 11,000 pounds, pickups over 15,000 pounds or trailers bigger than 10 by 6 by 6 feet.

• Chapman Field, 13600 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33158. No appliances, tires or mattresses.
• Eureka Drive, 9401 SW 184th St, Palmetto Bay, FL 33157. Electronics, cardboard.
• Golden Glades, 140 NW 160th Street, Miami, FL 33169. Motor oil, electronics, cardboard.
• Moody Drive, 12970 SW 268th St, Homestead, FL 33032. Motor oil, electronics, cardboard.
• North Dade, 21500 NW 47 Avenue, Miami, FL 33055. Motor oil, electronics.
• Norwood, 19901 NW 7th Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL 33169. No appliances.
• Palm Springs North, 7870 NW 178th St, Hialeah, FL 33015. Motor oil, electronics.
• Richmond Heights, 14050 Boggs Drive, Miami, FL 33176. Cardboard. No appliances or mattresses.
• Snapper Creek, 2200 SW 117 Avenue, Miami, FL 33165. Motor oil.
• South Miami Heights, 20800 SW 117 Court, Miami, FL 33177. Motor oil, cardboard.
• Sunset Kendall, 8000 SW 107th Ave, Miami, FL 33173. Motor oil, electronics, cardboard.
• West Little River, 1830 NW 79th Street, Miami, FL 33147. Electronics.
• West Perrine, 16651 SW 107th Ave, Miami, FL 33157. Electronics, cardboard.

Fees and billing

DSWM service is paid through the annual waste service fee, a non-ad valorem assessment on the property tax bill. Rates for fiscal year 2025-26 (October 2025 through September 2026):

For fiscal year 2026-27, which starts in October, DSWM has proposed a 2% increase to $724; the County Commission sets the final fee. Billed separately: an extra green cart at $162 a year (owners only, billed each October, no mid-year cancellation), a replacement garbage cart without a police report at $75, extra bulky yardage at $32 per cubic yard, and removal of a contaminated recycling cart after a third violation at $162. A second blue cart is free on the Additional Recycling Cart Request Form. Direct bills can be paid online with no card fee, by mail or in person.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

• Missed pickup: file a 311 service request ↗ or call 311. Report missed recycling within three business days of your day, or it waits for the next pickup.
• Damaged carts: a cart broken in collection is repaired or replaced free through 311, in about 10 days. Damage from misuse or banned materials is the owner’s cost. Dirty carts are not swapped.
• Stolen carts: get a police non-emergency case number, then call 311 for a free replacement.
• Moving in: call 311 if the home has no carts or the account is not in your name. Owners of new homes call the Residential Billing Unit at 305-594-1630 once they move in; until carts arrive, use bags of up to 50 pounds.

Set-out rules and fines

• DSWM Code Enforcement issues warnings and citations under Chapter 15 of the county code and inspects more than 1,000 recycling carts a month. Enforcement Division: 305-514-6700.
• A contaminated recycling cart is removed after the third violation, with a $162 removal fee.
• A bulky pile out more than three days early can bring a warning notice or a civil citation, and an unwrapped mattress can bring a fine.
• Illegal dumping carries fines of up to $2,500, vehicle seizure, arrest and up to 300 hours of community service. Call 911 if you see it happening and 311 afterward.

Materials with their own rules

• Lithium-ion batteries: Home Chemical Collection Centers only.
• Household hazardous waste: Home Chemical Collection Centers or a mobile event.
• Paint: liquid paint to a Home Chemical Collection Center; dried latex in the green cart.
• Mattresses: sealed in plastic for a bulky pickup.
• Pizza boxes: accepted in the blue cart.
• Christmas trees: cut to fit the green cart, or a seasonal drop-off for mulch.
• Tires: up to four at most Trash and Recycling Centers.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: Home Chemical Collection Centers.

More in Florida

• Florida trash and recycling rules
• Hillsborough County trash pickup
• Holiday changes by city
• Bulk pickup rules by city
• Missed pickup contacts by city
• Drop-off locations by city