Ocala, FL Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Ocala's public works department, defined in § 54-1 as the director of the public works department, runs municipal solid waste collection as a public utility under Chapter 54. Section 54-33(a) requires that all solid waste accumulated in the city be collected, conveyed and disposed of by the city itself or by a private hauler that holds a director-approved permit for a specific type of collection at a specific location; anyone who collects, hauls over city streets, dumps, buries or incinerates waste, or works for someone who does, without that written city permit is violating the section, regardless of whether they generated the waste themselves.

Section 54-33(f) fixes the collection window: containers must be accessible for pickup on the scheduled collection day at any time between 4:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. That subsection does not leave the city free to change a schedule at no cost either: if a container is not accessible during the window, if a commercial customer requests a specific pickup time, or if the city itself changes a container's service hours because of the impact on nearby residents, the property owner pays a rerouting fee set by separate council resolution rather than getting free extra service.

Because the permit requirement in subsection (a) reaches anyone who merely works for an unpermitted hauler, a business cannot avoid the rule by subcontracting its waste removal to an outside crew that lacks the city's written approval. Violating § 54-33 carries its own $50.00 fine under subsection (h), rather than relying on the chapter's separate general penalty provision that applies when a section sets no fine of its own.