The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County provides solid waste and recycling collection service for the residents and businesses of unincorporated Palm Beach County.  The following service guidelines are intended for the SWA's collection customers who receive service through a SWA franchise hauler.  Municipal residents are encouraged to contact their municipality with collection service questions.  As a service to municipal residents we are pleased to provide a list of municipal contacts.

Collection Hours

Residential collection service is provided between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.  In order to avoid service disruptions, garbage, vegetation, and recycling must be placed at the curb before 6:00 am on the scheduled collection day.

Residential Garbage Collection

Residents receive garbage collection two times per week.  Garbage must be placed in standard 32 to 50 gallon cans or sealed in plastic bags, with each container weighing no more than 50 pounds.  Garbage cans must have tight-fitting lids, be free of sharp and jagged edges, and have their bottoms and sides intact.

All residential waste must be placed at the curb or roadway within 6 feet of the edge of the traveled portion of the roadway.  Material must not be stacked on water or gas meters, under low-hanging limbs or utility wires, or in front of mailboxes.  Please do not mix garbage with yard waste (vegetation).

Major appliances, furniture, and other bulk items may be placed at the curb with your garbage on either collection day.  In the interest of safety, please remove doors from refrigerators, washers, and dryers.

Residents may dispose of up to two tires, off the rim, per year at the curb.  Simply place them next to your garbage.

Do not mix bulk items or tires with vegetation.

Residents may dispose of up to 4 cubic yards (the equivalent of a pickup truck bed) of debris from minor home repairs on each collection day.  These items include lumber (remove or bend over nails), fencing, and paneling cut to less than 6 feet in length and neatly stacked.  Loose items, such as pieces of drywall and floor tile should be containerized with each container weighing less than 50 pounds.  Carpeting must be cut to no more than 4 foot lengths and rolled up with no roll weighing more than 50 pounds.

Please note that construction and demolition debris will not be picked up curbside.  This material includes steel, glass, brick, concrete, roofing material, pipe, gypsum wallboard, lumber and other materials from the construction or destruction of a structure as part of a construction or demolition project.  Also note that car, boat, and motorcycle parts or engines will not be picked up curbside.  Residents who need to dispose of construction and demolition debris or automotive parts must either haul these materials to the landfill or contract with a permitted hauler.

Residential Yard Waste Collection

Yard waste collection is provide one time per week by a different truck than the one that collects your garbage.  Yard waste must be separated from all other household waste.

Yard waste includes grass clippings, leaves, shrub trimmings, palm fronds, and tree limbs.  Tree limbs must be cut to 6 feet or less in length and stacked neatly at the curb with no single limb weighing more than 50 pounds.  Loose yard waste, such as grass clippings and leaves must be placed in standard 32 to 50 gallon cans or bagged, with each container weighing no more than 50 pounds.

If you have large quantities of yard waste, your hauler may tag the pile for pick-up on the day following your scheduled vegetation day.

Please note that land clearing debris will not be picked up curbside.  Land clearing is defined as the removal of trees, brush, dirt, rocks, or similar materials from a parcel of residential land by using mechanical devices, such as a bobcat, backhoe, loader, tractor, or dozer.  Removal means the physical action of digging, scraping, bulldozing, or pulling debris from the ground.  Simply transporting legally vegetation from a residential property to the curb is not land clearing and is acceptable.

Also note that vacant lots do not receive collection service.  Only lots with a residential structure on them are entitled to receive collection service.

Curbside Recycling

Curbside recycling collection is provided one time per week.  In your yellow bin please place the following items:

• Newspaper
• Brown Paper Grocery Bags
• Magazines
• Catalogs
• Corrugated Cardboard (look for waffled ridges, flatten and cut to no more than 3' x 3')

In your blue bin please place the following items:

• Drink Boxes
• Milk and Juice Cartons
• Aluminum Cans
• Aluminum Foil and Pie Plates
• Glass Bottles and Jars (all colors-lids and caps removed)
• All Plastic Containers (except Styrofoam)

 Please,

• No 12-Pack Beverage Boxes
• No Tissue Boxes
• No Cereal Boxes
• No Plastic Bags
• No Light Bulbs, Mirrors or Plate Glass
• No Plastic Wrap
• No Steel or Tin Cans
• No Styrofoam

Household Hazardous Waste

Household hazardous waste cannot be collected curbside.  These materials, including used motor oil, rechargeable batteries, auto batteries, propane tanks, fluorescent light bulbs, paints, pesticides, solvents, etc. can be delivered to the SWA Household Hazardous Waste Facility or Solid Waste Authority transfer station during regular business hours.  For locations, hours, and materials accepted please visit the SWA Household Hazardous Waste Home Page.

Please note that latex paint is collected curbside in unincorporated Palm Beach County, provided it is completely dried out.  To dry the paint, remove the lid and add sand, cat litter or saw dust.  Once dry it should be left uncovered next to your garbage.  Latex paint can also be disposed of at the Household Hazardous Facility or other drop-off location.

Holiday Schedule

There is no collection service on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day for unincorporated Palm Beach County residents.  If your collection day falls on a holiday, your service will resume on your next scheduled collection day.

All other municipal residents should contact their municipality directly for holiday collection information.

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