Recycling

recycling carts

How often is waste collected?

  • Garbage, recycling, and yard waste are picked up once a week.
  • Bulk waste is collected once a month—on the same day as your regular pickup.
  • Your specific collection day is determined by your address. To find out the exact day for your property, click the link below and use our online tool:

Find your pickup day

Recycling Guidelines

  • Recyclables go into the green recycling cart.
  • Recyclables should be loose, not bagged, inside the green cart.
  • Recyclables must be empty, clean and dry. Dirty recyclables become breeding grounds for bacteria and cannot be recycled after pick-up.
  • Keep all carts and bulk piles three feet away from anything that may block the collection truck (carts, mailboxes, utility poles, trees and fire hydrants).
  • Make sure the handle faces your house and the lid openings face the street.
  • On the same day, after service, all carts must be removed from the curb.

Recycling Questions

What can I put in the recycling cart?

St. Lucie County’s online recycling tool helps residents determine how to recycle or dispose of specific waste items by searching the name of the item.

Why can't I bag my recyclables?
Recyclables must be loose to be processed at the Material Recovery Facility. Plastic bags get caught in processing machinery and operation must halt to remove the bag and restore processing operations.

Accepted materials in the green recycling cart:

  1. Paper: Almost any kind of paper is recyclable (Junk mail, newsprint, magazines, copy paper, phone books), except shredded, waxed, metallic or soiled paper. 
  2. Metal cans: Both aluminum or steel (tin) cans can be recycled and there is no need to remove the labels. 
  3. Cardboard: Any kind of box is acceptable for recycling unless it held a liquid (such as those used to hold milk, juice, wine and broth). Flatten cardboard boxes to save room in the cart. If the cardboard has been contaminated with grease or oil – like a pizza box, for example, it cannot be recycled.
  4. Plastic containers: Emptied and rinsed bottles, tubs, jugs and jars are all accepted either with or without the lid.
  5. Glass: Emptied and rinsed green, brown and clear bottles and jars are acceptable materials.

Returnable Items:

  • Plastic grocery bags and Styrofoam egg cartons: Return these to your local store.

Helpful recycling infographics

Recycle Infographic: Know Your No's
Know Your No's(PDF, 753KB)		 Recycle Infographic: Recycle Right - Plastic, metal, glass, paper
Recycle plastic, metal, glass and paper(PDF, 733KB)		 Recycle Infographic: Bathroom
Bathroom Recycling(PDF, 580KB)

Holiday recycling do's and don'ts

Download Holiday Recycling Do's and Dont's Poster(PDF, 921KB)

Holiday Recycling Poster

From presents to parties, a wealth of material can be recycled. Residents, local businesses, and community organizations can help make the process more efficient by ensuring they are putting the correct items into the right cart. While most items may be reusable materials, some items are not accepted. The challenge to divert tons of valuable recycling items away from the landfill by following 12 do’s and don’ts tailored explicitly for the holiday season.

Gift wrapping materials:

  • Do Recycle: Residents can recycle paper gift wrapping, tissue paper and greeting cards.
  • Don’t Recycle: Bows, glitter, ribbons, cellophane, and foil gift wrapping are not recyclable, especially those items with wire mesh.

Product packaging:

  • Do Recycle: Gift boxes, wrapping paper, and paper packaging are recyclable. Residents must remove the tape, ribbons, and other decorations before tossing items into their recycling cart.
  • Don’t Recycle: Air pillow packing materials, bubble mailing envelopes, Styrofoam, and bubble wrap are household waste.

Decorations:

  • Do Recycle: Pack up holiday decorations for reuse next year.
  • Don’t Recycle: Ornaments, garland, tinsel, or strings of lights are considered household waste.

Christmas trees:

  • Do Recycle: Recycle your Christmas tree and place it curbside on your weekly yard waste collection day. Remove the lights, tinsel, ornaments, and tree stands. The tree will get mulched rather than disposed of at the landfill.
  • Don’t Recycle: Don’t put your Christmas tree in a plastic bag.

Going Green:

  • Do Recycle: Empty and scrape out food or material from all bottles, jars, containers, and cans before putting them in the recycling bin. If it’s impossible to remove all the food debris, such as peanut butter, it’s better to throw it away in the trash rather than contaminate the recycling stream.
  • Don’t Recycle: Loose, plastic grocery or department store bags or plastic film gets jammed in the recycle processing equipment and can shut down the entire line until it’s removed. Most grocery chains provide collection bins for these plastic bags and wraps.

Holiday Cooking:

  • Do Recycle: Foil baking cookware, pie plates, and cookie sheets can be recycled. Rinse off tiny bits of food, like cookie crumbs and fruit or vegetable juice, before putting them in the bin.
  • Don’t Recycle: Wax paper, butcher paper, milk, eggnog, juice cartons, etc., and biscuit dough tubes are not recyclable because of a waxy coating on the paperboard. 

Recycling resources for educators and students

Kids holding laptop with online recycling activities Visit the US Environmental Protection Agency website to find resources for students and educators on reducing, reusing, and recycling.

See also...

Contact Us

Phone

772-871-1775 and press 5

Hours

Monday-Friday,
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Holidays

What happens if my pickup day falls on a holiday?

Independence Day (July 4), Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only observed holidays that affect collection schedules. 

As a result of these holidays, the garbage, recycling, yard waste, and bulk collection schedules shift forward one day.

For example:

  • If your regular service day is Thursday (Thanksgiving), your collection will occur on Friday.
  • Friday service will move to Saturday.

Download Holidays Calendar(PDF, 207KB)

Holiday Waste collection

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