Residential Recycling & Garbage

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Alachua County provides the collection of solid waste, recycling, and yard waste for citizens in designated service areas. It is our mission to provide quality collection services while striving to reach our waste diversion goals.

Curbside Pickup
Holiday Hours
Pay-As-You-Throw
Curbside Pickup Guidelines
Curbside Pickup Guidelines

Curbside Household Garbage Collection

Carts are for household garbage only.

The following items are NOT accepted in your garbage cart:

  • Recycling
  • Yard Waste
  • Dead animals
  • Hot ashes
  • Solvents, paints, hazardous materials, or flammable liquids​

Please observe the following guidelines:​

  • Place your solid waste and recycling receptacles curbside/roadside by 7am on the collection day, no earlier than 5pm the day before your scheduled pick up
  • Remove your solid waste and recycling receptacles from curbside/roadside by 9pm on your collection day
  • Make sure your garbage is bagged before it's placed in the cart. Please, Bag and Tie So the Trash Won't Fly!
  • Cart lid must close.

​If you have more garbage than your cart will hold, place garbage in an officially marked yellow bag and put it next to your cart. You can purchase these bags at your local Publix Supermarket. Please call 352-338-3233 for more information.

Curbside Recycling Collection

  • Light Rinse: By rinsing out all food containers, you raise the value of the material. Unrinsed items may not be collected as they contaminate the other recyclables.
  • Off With the Lids: Please remove lids from plastic or glass bottles and jars. They can become projectiles if they are attached to containers that are put into the bailing machine and can pose a threat to recycling workers. Lids can also damage equipment by getting jammed in gears and other workings. One exception: you can recycle metal lids on cans, for example soup cans. Leave these metal lids attached or place them in the bottom of cans and pinch the top of the cans together.
  • Step on it: You can save space by crushing aluminum cans and plastic containers. Now that you're recycling all that you can, you are going to need the space!
  • Wait Until It's Full: If your bin contains only a few items, do not set it out yet. Wait until it's full.
  • No Need to Remove Labels

Click Here​​ to learn what items are recyclable!

Curbside Yard Waste Collection

Yard waste includes leaves, grass clippings and small tree limbs. It does NOT include boards or lumber. All yard waste collected curbside is recycled. Please do not contaminate it with garbage!

Debris generated by tree surgeons or other commercial enterprises will not be collected.

  • ​​Limbs must be less than 5 feet in length.
  • Smaller than 8 inches in diameter.
  • Yard waste should be put in paper yard waste bags or reusable, rigid containers and placed curbside by 7am of the collection day.
  • No plastic bags will be accepted.
  • Containers or paper yard bags should not exceed 40 pounds each.
  • Christmas trees are also collected curbside. Trees over 5 feet in length must be cut in half for pickup. Please remove all ornaments and tinsel before placing curbside.
  • Please do not place yard waste in the street or near storm drains.
  • Oversized yard waste can be collected for a fee.

Note: All yard debris accumulated by a tree service must be hauled off by the company that performed the service within a reasonable amount of time.

Before attempting to burn yard waste, contact the Florida Division of Forestry at (352) 395-4951 or 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352).

​ Yard Waste Disposal and Recycling​
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Curbside Service Areas
Curbside Service Areas

Alachua County provides curbside waste collection and recycling to designated residential areas.

Residents of subscription-only areas may subscribe curbside pickup directly with GFL Environmental​, or dispose of household waste at one of the five Rural Collection Centers. Alachua County residents who subscribe to garbage collection service should contact their hauler for recycling information.

For questions regarding your address and service options, please contact the Office of Waste Collection, or call 352-338-3233.

Recycling collection service at apartment complexes is mandatory and is arranged by the owner or manager of the complex. Please speak with your apartment staff for information on recycling in apartment complexes.

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Collection Days
Collection Days

Curbside waste services in unincorporated ​Alachua County are currently serviced Monday through Thursday. If you are unsure of your collection day, please contact the Office of Waste Collection at 352-338-3233.

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Curbside Disabled Pickup
Curbside Disabled Pickup

​Disabled Alachua County residents who live in curbside service areas are eligible to receive backdoor service. The service will be provided at no additional charge.

To obtain this service, a customer must:

  • Complete a disabled waiver form for backdoor collection service
  • Furnish a physician's statement verifying that he/she is physically unable to take the receptacles to the curbside/roadside
  • Attest that no other home residents are physically able to take the receptacles to the curbside/roadside.


Approved waivers are good for one year. Waiver forms can be obtained by contacting the Office of Waste Collection or calling 352-338-3233.

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Changing Your Cart Size
Changing Your Cart Size

Alachua County curbside customers can change their garbage cart size to fit their needs. Available sizes are mini-can, 35, 64 & 96 gallons. Cart sizes are assessed at different rates on your property tax statement. For more information, please see the Pay-As-You-Throw​ tab at the top of this page.

Contact the Alachua County Office of Waste Collection, or the City of Gainesville for more information or to request a different cart. If you are a subscription service customer, please contact WCA Waste Corporation.

If you have excess garbage, place the garbage in an officially marked yellow bag and put it next to your cart. You can purchase these bags at your local Publix Supermarket. Please call the City of Gainesville or Alachua County for the store location nearest you.

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Special Pickups for Large or Bulk Items
Special Pickups for Large or Bulk Items

Alachua County and the City of Gainesville offer free curbside pickup of bulk items to residents with curbside service. Bulk items include furniture such as

  • Couches
  • Tables
  • Chairs
  • Desks
  • Mattresses

Limited amounts of interior remodeling debris will also be collected.

For pickup of appliances such as stoves, washers, and dryers, call the County Waste Collection Office (352)338-3233, City of Gainesville (352)334-2330 or the call the City​ in which you live to schedule.

Special collections of exterior materials may be arranged for a fee.

IMPORTANT: On your collection day, the bulk item(s) must be kept separate from any other trash or debris. Items that will fit in a garbage cart or yellow overflow trash bag are not considered “bulk”.

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​​​​

  • Only six holidays affect collection service:

    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • New Year's Day
    • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday (observed)
    • Memorial Day
    • Fourth of July

    Waste will not be collected on these holidays, and all scheduled pickups will be delayed by one (business) day. Collection will return to the normal the following week.

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About
About

Alachua County’s Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) program charges households for solid waste collected based on the amount of waste that is thrown away. PAYT lets residents choose from four trash cart sizes based on household needs, offering savings for smaller carts.

Unincorporated Alachua County Rates ONLY
​​ Cart Size​ Annual Cost Estimated Capacity​
         Picture of 20-gallon mini grabage cart.

 ​Mini-Cart $203.89
1 kitchen-sized bag of garbage
       Picture of 30 gallon garbage cart
 35 ​​Gallon $227.08
2-3 kitchen-sized bags of garbag​e
    Picture of 64 gallon garbage cart
64 Gallon $276.86
5 kitchen-sized bags of garbage
Picture of 96 gallon garbage cart
96 Gallon $330.00
​7 kitchen-sized bags of garbage (For very large families)

*Your city rates may vary; call your city for more information.

Property owners in unincorporated Alachua County will see the refuse fee on the upcoming Tax Bill. The deadline to select a smaller cart size is September 15th. After this date, those who choose a smaller size cart may not see the reduced rate savings this year.

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Tips To Reduce Waste & Save Money
Tips To Reduce Waste & Save Money

Recycle Right: Do you have curbside trash pickup? If so, your recycling service is included at no additional cost. Call us to order bins and Click Here to see what items to recycle.

Let Nature Help: Composting is nature’s way of recycling our kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich soil. Approximately 15% to 20% of our waste can be diverted from landfills by composting! Call us for your FREE wire compost bin and a “Compost 101” brochure. Learn more about composting.​

Reduce First: When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you don’t have to worry about paying to dispose of unwanted items. Choose products that are not heavily packaged or are easily recyclable.

Stay Back, Styrofoam! Not only does it leach toxins into hot food and beverages, but Styrofoam cannot be recycled in Alachua County’s curbside bins. Most Styrofoam is landfilled, and can take over a million years to decompose. Styrofoam egg cartons and trays can be recycled at some local grocery stores.

Please call Alachua County’s Solid Waste & Resource Recovery Department at 352-338-3233 with any questions.

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Orange and Blue Recycling Bins filled with recycling and placed on the curb

Contact

​
  • Waste Collection
  • 5620 NW 120th Lane
  • Gainesville, FL 32653
  • Phone: 352-338-3233
  • TDD/TTY users, please call 711 (Florida Relay Service)
  • Office Hours
    Monday - Thursday
    7:00am-5:30pm
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Mission

To provide courteous and effective waste collection services to citizens of Alachua County, and to help those citizens manage and reduce their household waste.

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