Melbourne, FL Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Sec. 48-30(9)(a) sets the collection window for garbage, household trash, recycling and yard trash: containers may not go out before 5:00 p.m. on the day before collection, and must be at the collection point by 6:30 a.m. on collection day to be assured of pickup. Sec. 48-30(9)(b) then fixes where the containers belong. Refuse has to sit on the customer's own property where the lot lines and available room allow the collection crew and truck to reach it, generally within four feet of the curb or the edge of an alley. Exceptions exist for a medically certified disabled resident living alone, whose refuse can go at the rear or side door, and for lots with no street or lawn frontage, where containers can sit next to the driveway up to 40 feet from the street.

Sec. 48-30(9)(c) adds clearance rules on top of the placement rule: containers cannot obstruct drivers, bicyclists or pedestrians, cannot sit within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, and cannot block streets, sidewalks, gutters, drainage structures, stormwater inlets or water meters, and refuse can never be placed in the street or roadway itself. Once collection happens, Sec. 48-30(9)(i) requires the empty container to come off the collection point the same day and be stored behind the front building line until the next cycle, and Sec. 48-30(9)(j) requires the recycling container to sit separate from other containers on collection day.