Fort Walton Beach twice-weekly trash pickup starts October 5

Fort Walton Beach twice-weekly trash pickup starts Monday, October 5, 2026. The city’s Sanitation Division keeps each home’s current garbage day and adds a second one: Monday homes get Monday and Thursday, Tuesday homes get Tuesday and Friday. Recycling stays once a week but may move to a new day, and yard waste days do not change (City of Fort Walton Beach).

Photo: Fort Walton Beach City Hall, Florida. Skye Marthaler, 2014-09-19. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source. Resized for web.

What changes on October 5

The city calls the new schedule its “2-1-1 Service”: two trash pickups, one recycling pickup and one yard waste pickup each week. It replaces the once-a-week “1-1-1” service. The city announced the start date on September 2, 2026 (City of Fort Walton Beach).

The carts stay the same. Each home keeps its two city-issued 95-gallon roll carts, one for garbage and one with a yellow lid for recycling (City of Fort Walton Beach).

The first week of the new schedule is the week of Monday, October 5. A Monday home puts the garbage cart out for Monday, October 5, and again for Thursday, October 8. A Tuesday home puts it out for Tuesday, October 6, and Friday, October 9.

Recycling may move to a new day

Recycling stays at one pickup a week, but the routes were redrawn. Recycling now runs on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, depending on the address, so some homes will have trash and recycling picked up on the same day (Guide to Residential Services).

The new recycling days take effect on October 5 with the trash change. The city posts the new recycling day list and route maps by day on its 2-1-1 schedule page. Recyclables go in the cart loose, not bagged, and the cart goes out the night before with the handle facing away from the street (City of Fort Walton Beach).

Setting out two carts

Both carts go to the curb the night before pickup and come back in by 7 p.m. on collection day. Leave four feet between the carts and between each cart and mailboxes, trees, light poles or above-ground utility boxes (City of Fort Walton Beach). Keep carts at least 10 feet from cars parked on the street, within three feet of the curb, and bag household garbage before it goes in the cart (City of Fort Walton Beach).

Yard waste and bulk items

Yard waste keeps its day. The city collects it once a week, Monday through Thursday, on a citywide schedule. Leaves, grass and pine straw go out in bags, not in carts, and each household may set out up to 4 cubic yards a week; larger amounts carry a charge (City of Fort Walton Beach).

Bulk household items still go out on Fridays by request. Call Sanitation at 850-833-9655 before 3 p.m. on Thursday. The limit is 4 cubic yards per household per month. Construction debris, concrete, glass and tires are not taken (Guide to Residential Services).

Holidays ahead

Thanksgiving is the first holiday that lands on one of the new Thursday trash days (City of Fort Walton Beach).

Recycling that falls on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day is picked up on the home’s next scheduled recycling day (City of Fort Walton Beach).

What this is not

The second day is for garbage only. Recycling is still collected once a week, and yard waste once a week on its unchanged day. Bulk pickup is not part of either trash day: it stays a Friday service that residents book by phone. Household hazardous waste such as paint, pesticides and fertilizer never goes in either cart. The city’s guide sends it to the drop-off at 80 Ready Avenue NW, open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., phone 850-301-2013 (Guide to Residential Services).