Port St. Lucie, FL Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Curb clearance
- 3 feet from objects/other containers
- Screening required
- Indoors or behind fence/hedge/wall
- Earliest set-out
- 6:00 p.m. night before
- Latest set-out
- Before 7:00 a.m. collection day
- First offense fine
- $35 (Sec. 80.17(d))
Summary
Port St. Lucie requires garbage and recycling carts to be screened from the street between pickups and set at the curb only in a narrow window under Sections 80.09(b) and 80.06(a). Carts must sit indoors or behind a screening fence, hedge, or wall the rest of the week, go out no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before collection, and come back in the same day.
(b)Container placement.(1)All collection containers shall be placed in locations that are safely and readily accessible to a collection vehicle. Containers shall be placed a minimum of three (3) feet from any object or other container to ensure proper collection.(2)Collection containers used for residential curbside collection shall be kept indoors or in a portion of the rear or side yard that is screened from view by walls, fences, or hedges, or otherwise stored out of view from abutting streets.(3)Collection containers and collection areas utilized at multi-family residential complexes, commercial, industrial, office, and institutional facilities shall comply with the regulations set forth in section 158.232 of this Code. ... (a)General provisions.(1)Garbage, rubbish, yard waste, bulk waste, and recyclable materials shall be placed at curbside before 7:00 a.m. on the scheduled collection day for such materials but no sooner than 6:00 p.m. the night before collection.(2)Empty collection carts must be removed from curbside the day of collection.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 103).
Full Breakdown
09(b)(2) goes further for residential carts: when not out for pickup, they "shall be kept indoors or in a portion of the rear or side yard that is screened from view by walls, fences, or hedges, or otherwise stored out of view from abutting streets," so a cart cannot simply sit beside the driveway in full view of the road. 232 of the zoning code. the day before the scheduled collection day, and subsection (o) bars leaving an empty cart at the curb after midnight of the scheduled collection day.
Violations & Fines
Placing a cart out too early, leaving an empty cart at the curb too long, or storing it unscreened between pickups is a cart placement/garbage collection violation under Section 80.17(d)'s penalty table: $35 for a first offense and $70 for a second. Violators get 24 hours from the citation to fix a cart placement problem under Section 80.17(b)(5)i before further enforcement follows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I have to store my trash cart in Port St. Lucie?
How early can I put my cart at the curb?
How soon do I have to bring my empty cart back in?
What's the fine for leaving my cart out too long?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Port St. Lucie
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Port St. Lucie to another location·View the Florida trash & recycling overview
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