Lakeland, FL Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

City Code § 86-33(d)(4) limits free bulk collection to four pickups per year per address, capped at 20 cubic yards each time, and requires residents to call ahead rather than set items out on a fixed weekly schedule like regular refuse. Commercial customers get no free bulk service: under § 86-33(e)(2) they may only request a bulk yard trash collection for an additional charge. The code also defines what counts as bulk yard trash separately from regular yard trash. Under § 86-33(c), tree trimmings up to five inches in diameter and five feet long must be tied and bundled or containerized in loads of 40 pounds or less; anything larger than that, wood matter over five inches in diameter and more than five feet long, is classified as bulk yard trash.

Bulk yard trash pieces longer than 15 feet, or too heavy for the collection vehicle to lift, must be cut into smaller pieces by whoever generated the waste before the city will take it. Regular yard trash such as grass clippings and leaves must go in plastic bags or containers not exceeding 40 pounds and cannot be mixed into the same container as bulk waste or household refuse. Construction and demolition debris, hazardous waste, and biohazardous waste are excluded from city bulk collection entirely and must be hauled by a permitted contractor or disposed of separately.

The solid waste division, under the director's authority in § 86-33(g), sets the actual pickup dates and frequency, and the code enforcement board has jurisdiction over violations under § 86-32, which also lets the solid waste division remove improperly stored bulk items after a warning if a resident does not correct the problem in a reasonable time.