Public Works

Curbside Pickup

Holiday Schedule

Only five holidays will affect collection service: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday (observed) and the Fourth of July. There will be no collection on these holidays and collection services for the remainder of the week will be delayed by one day. The following week, collection will return to the normal schedule.

The Alachua County curbside pick-up program provides for the pick-up of solid waste, recycling and yard waste for Alachua County citizens in the service area. Disabled customers can receive backdoor pick-up and all customers can request a special pick-up for their designated pick-up days.

Carts are for the disposal of regular household garbage. Pet owners, please seal animal waste and cat littler in plastic bags. Please do not use your cart for dead animals, yard trash, recycling, hot ashes, solvents, paints, hazardous materials, or flammable liquids.

Some things to keep in mind:

  • Place your solid waste and recycling receptacles curbside/roadside by 7am of the collection day but no earlier than 5pm on the day before
  • Remove your solid waste and recycling receptacles from curbside/roadside by 9pm of the collection day

Curbside Service Areas

Waste collection provides residential, curbside waste collection and recycling to areas designated mandatory.

Residents of other areas designated subscription may subscribe for curbside pickup directly with Waste Management, Inc., (352) 377-0800, or dispose of household waste at one of the five Rural Collection Centers. Click here for viewable/printable map of areas covered by this service.

If you are unable to tell if your residence is covered by this service, please contact the Office of Waste Collection at (352) 338-3233 or email Milton Towns, Waste Collection Manager, at mwt@alachuacounty.us.

Holiday Schedule

Only five holidays will affect collection service: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday (observed) and the Fourth of July. There will be no collection on these holidays and collection services for the remainder of the week will be delayed by one day. The following week, collection will return to the normal schedule.

Click the image above to see a large version of the Collection Schedule Map.

Collection Days

In the urban area, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are county solid waste and recycling collection days. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are city solid waste and recycling collection days. Please contact the Waste Collection Office if you cannot determine your pick-up day, (352) 338-3233 or email Milton Towns, Waste Collection Manager, at mwt@alachuacounty.us. Please include your street address in any email.

Curbside Disabled Pick-up

Alachua County residents who are physically unable to take solid waste and recycling receptacles to the curbside/roadside and who live in services area are eligible to receive disabled backdoor service. This 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 there is no one residing in the home that is able to take the receptacles to the curbside/roadside.

Waivers, if approved, are good for one year only and must be reapplied for annually. Waiver forms are available by calling (352) 338-3233.

Curbside Recycling

Click here to learn about recycling with Big Blue and the Orange bin!

Recycling bins are provided to residences with no limit on the number of recycling bins set out for collection. Customers should put paper products in the orange bin and containers in the blue bin. For more information, click here. Telephone books can be recycled in the orange bin all year long.

Curbside Solid Waste Pick-up

Somethings to keep in mind:

  • Avoid "overflow," placing more in your solid waste container than fits inside of it.
  • Some things can be recycled.
  • Make sure you garbage is baged before it's placed in the cart. Bag and Tie So the Trash Won't Fly!

Alachua County curbside customers may change their garbage cart size, either to a larger or a smaller size. Available sizes are 20, 35, 64 & 96 gallon. Cart sizes are assessed at different rates on your property tax statement; the current rates are 20 gallon, $135.39; 35 gallon, $162.95; 64 gallon, $208.30 and 96 gallon, $256.49.

Contact the Alachua County Office of Waste Collection, (352) 338-3233, or the City of Gainesville, (352) 334-2330, for more information or to request a different cart. Subscription service customers contact Waste Management Inc., (352) 377-0800.

If you have extra garbage, place the excess in an officially marked, yellow bag and put it next to your cart. You can purchase the marked, yellow bags at the customer service counters of local Publix and Albertson's grocery stores. Please call the City of Gainesville at (352) 334-2330 or Alachua County at (352) 338-3233 for the store location nearest you.

Curbside Special Pick-up - Just Make the Call!!!

Alachua County and the City of Gainesville offer free curbside pickup of bulk items to residents that participate in the Curbside Collection Program. County residents must call the county offices, (352) 338-3233, and City residents must call city offices, (352) 334-2330 , to schedule a pickup of these items. Bulk items include furniture and appliances such as couches, tables, chairs, desks, washers and dryers. Limited amounts of interior remodeling debris will also be collected. Special collections of exterior materials may be arranged for a fee.

When residents call to schedule the pickup, they will be given a collection day. On that collection day, the bulk item(s) must be kept separate from any other trash or debris. Items that will fit in a garage cart or yellow overflow trash bag will not be collected as bulk.

Residents are encouraged to donate gently used items to charity. Residents may also post unwanted items on Alachua Exchange, www.alachuaexchange.com, Alachua's free online exchange. Many area charities will come to your home and collect your large items. Some local charities include:

Items should be placed curbside no earlier than twenty-four hours preceding the scheduled collection day.

Curbside Yard Waste Pick-up

Yard trash includes leaves, grass clippings and small tree limbs. It does not include boards or lumber. The most environmentally friendly way to dispose of this material is to recycle it at your home. For free information and backyard compost bins, contact Alachua County at (352) 374-5213 or the City of Gainesville (352) 334-2330.

Limbs must be less than five feet in length and smaller than four inches in diameter. Yard trash should be put in plastic trash bags or old garbage cans and placed at the curbside by 7am of the collection day.

Before attempting to burn yard trash, contact the Florida Division of Forestry at (352) 955-2010.

Residents of unincorporated Alachua County are allowed ten bags (not to exceed 40 pounds each) per collection day. Tags can be purchased for extra bags from Waste Management, Inc. at 5002 SW 41 Blvd., Gainesville, FL. 32608 or by calling (352) 377-0800. City of Gainesville residents may dispose of unlimited yard trash.

Yard trash collected at curbside is recycled in a soil amendment. Please do not contaminate it with garbage. Debris generated by tree surgeons or other commercial enterprises will not be collected.