Highlands County, FL Trash & Recycling: Holiday Pickup Schedule (2026)
Key Facts
- Holidays the county lists as impacting collection
- New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas
- Independence Day, Saturday, July 4, 2026
- Curbside collection services are not affected
- Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026
- Thursday pickup changed to Friday, Nov. 27, 2026
- Day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, 2026
- Friday pickup changed to Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026
- Christmas, Friday, Dec. 25, 2026
- Friday pickup changed to Saturday, Dec. 26, 2026
- New Year's Day, Friday, Jan. 1, 2027
- Friday pickup changed to Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027
- Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2026
- Not named by the county; no change printed
Summary
Highlands County moves curbside pickup on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Thursday pickup on November 26, 2026 changes to Friday, November 27, and Friday pickup changes to Saturday, November 28. Friday pickup on December 25 changes to Saturday, December 26. Friday pickup on January 1, 2027 changes to Saturday, January 2, 2027. Sec. 8.5-24 bars collection on county-designated landfill-closure holidays.
No collection shall occur on Sundays, except on those approved by the county administrator or to maintain a regular schedule due to holidays. No collection shall occur on holidays designated by the county in which the county landfill is closed. The county shall notify each franchisee, in writing, by August 1 of each year of those dates which the county landfill shall be closed or have reduced hours of operation during the next fiscal year. Where the regular collection day falls on a holiday, service shall be provided on the next regularly scheduled collection day. The franchisee shall notify all customers whose normal collection day falls upon such holiday that no collection service will be provided on such holiday and shall notify all customers of the date on which their municipal solid wastes shall be collected. Such notice shall be either by actual notice to the customer, or through publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the county, and shall be given at least ten days prior to the holiday.
Full Breakdown
The county's curbside holiday page lists four holidays that impact collection schedules: New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each is tied to a closure of the Highlands County Landfill. The county prints a curbside adjustment for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day 2027, and for Independence Day 2026 it prints "Curbside collection services are not affected."
Thanksgiving 2026: the landfill is closed Thursday, November 26 and reopens Friday, November 27. The county prints "Thursday pickup changed to Friday, Nov. 27, 2026" and "Friday pickup changed to Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026." A Friday-route household is therefore collected on Saturday.
Christmas 2026: the landfill is closed Friday, December 25 and reopens Saturday, December 26. One adjustment is printed: "Friday pickup changed to Saturday, Dec. 26, 2026." The county prints no change for Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24.
New Year's Day 2027: the curbside holiday page lists only a January 2026 entry. The 2027 entry appears on the county's Landfill Holiday Schedule page: the landfill is closed Friday, January 1, 2027, reopens Saturday, January 2, 2027, and "Friday pickup changed to Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027." That entry sits under a second heading that reads 2026 although its dates print 2027. The same page prints the Christmas reopening as "Dec. 26, 2025," while its pickup line and the curbside page print Dec. 26, 2026.
Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, 2026, is not among the four holidays the county lists, and neither page prints a collection change for it. Independence Day 2026 fell on Saturday, July 4, and the landfill was closed that day.
The holiday pages do not say who they cover. The Curbside Garbage Collection page describes pickup from more than 40,313 residential units in the unincorporated areas of Highlands County through a franchise agreement with Florida Waste Solutions, and Sec. 8.5-22(a) requires residential property in the unincorporated area to use the franchisee's collection service unless exempted. The holiday pages say "pickup" and do not separate garbage, yard waste or bulk items. None of the three county pages mentions recycling.
The ordinance says no collection occurs on holidays the county designates when the landfill is closed, and its make-up wording is service on "the next regularly scheduled collection day." The published 2026 schedule instead names a day for each displaced route. This page reports each source as printed and does not merge them.
Violations & Fines
No collection occurs on a county-designated landfill-closure holiday, and the franchisee must notify customers of the make-up date at least ten days before the holiday. Sec. 8.5-24(d) makes a violation of that section a Class I violation under Code Enforcement: a written warning, then a citation under section 2-380 with section 2-382 Class I fines if it reoccurs. Sec. 8.5-33 separately punishes Chapter 8.5 violations with a fine not exceeding $500.00, up to 60 days in jail, or both, and Sec. 8.5-34 treats each day a violation continues unabated as separate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Highlands County trash picked up on Thanksgiving 2026?
Is trash picked up on Christmas Day in Highlands County?
What happens to pickup on New Year's Day 2027?
Does Veterans Day change trash pickup in Highlands County?
Does this schedule cover my address, and how do I find my day?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Highlands County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Highlands County to another location·View the Florida trash & recycling overview
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