Local guides
Bulk Trash Rules by City
Curbside bulk pickup is scheduled by each individual city or hauler in South Florida — not by the county. Use these guides to see what your city's collection will and won't take, then decide whether to wait for the truck or have it gone this week.
Palm Beach County
Rules that apply almost everywhere
Bulk piles are capped by volume
Nearly every Palm Beach and Broward city limits how large a bulk pile can be per collection — commonly a few cubic yards. Anything over the cap is left behind, and the rest of the pile often stays with it.
Contractor debris is almost never taken
If a renovation, demo, roof, or fence job produced the material, city collection will generally refuse it. That debris has to be hauled to a transfer station or picked up by a private hauler.
Hazardous waste is never curbside
Paint, motor oil, gasoline, pool chemicals, solvents, batteries, and medical waste have to go to a county household hazardous-waste drop-off. Leaving them at the curb can trigger a code violation.
Set-out windows are enforced
Most cities and nearly all HOAs only allow bulk items at the curb within a short window before the collection date. Put it out early and you risk a fine from code enforcement or your association.
Spray paint on your pile is a violation, not a pickup tag
If a pile goes out early or exceeds the volume cap, code enforcement commonly marks it with yellow, red, or orange paint. The pile then sits until the next collection cycle — a week or two later — and the fine (often $175 or more) is typically added to your water/utility bill, so most homeowners never see a ticket.
Mattresses often need to be bagged
Because of bed-bug rules, several South Florida municipalities require mattresses and box springs sealed in plastic before a crew will take them.
Electronics and appliances have separate rules
TVs, computers, and refrigerant-containing appliances are commonly excluded from regular bulk collection and must be recycled through a designated program.
Pile tagged or spray-painted? Read this first
A yellow paper tag stapled to the pile — or orange/yellow spray paint across it — is not a mark that it's scheduled. It's a violation notice.
The yellow tag on the pile — that's a violation notice, not a pickup ticket.
Set out early or over the size cap? The pile gets tagged and left behind.
Same house, same evening — loaded, raked clean, violation closed.
In most your city neighborhoods, code enforcement marks a pile when it was set out before the allowed set-out window or when it's larger than the volume the city will collect. Some crews staple a yellow paper tag right onto the pile; others hit it with orange or yellow spray paint. Either way it's the same thing — the inspector has flagged your address.
It also cuts both ways: if the city does haul a tagged over-cap or early pile, the pickup itself usually comes with a charge. Leave it and you're cited; let them take it and you're billed.
Once it's marked, the pile usually sits. The city may come back for it the following week — sometimes the week after — and in the meantime the material stays at your curb, keeps collecting more, and keeps the violation open.
The part almost nobody knows: the fine typically starts around $175, and in many South Florida cities it is added directly to your water/utility bill. There's no separate ticket in the mailbox — most homeowners only find out when the bill is higher than usual.
We're not asking you to take our word for it. Call your city's code enforcement or solid waste line and ask about set-out windows, tagged piles, and how violations are billed.
Already tagged? We can make it disappear today.
Removing the pile is what closes the issue. We haul the whole thing — over-cap piles, contractor debris, mattresses, appliances — so there's nothing left at the curb to keep the violation open.