Fort Lauderdale, FL Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 24-26 spells out how often the city picks up each category of waste. Residential solid waste 'shall be collected twice weekly, or as scheduled by the city,' at every single-family home and at multifamily accounts of three units or fewer. Larger multifamily accounts of four units or more, and all commercial accounts, also get twice-weekly service but from a company licensed by the city rather than municipal crews, unless the city manager approves something different; that licensing requirement doesn't apply to dumpster and bulk-container accounts. Yard waste is collected once a week or as scheduled.

Bulk trash gets its own timing rule under Sec. 24-26(6): it must be placed in the swale area and cannot go out more than twenty-four hours before the scheduled pickup date, and putting it out earlier is itself a violation that draws a notice with a compliance deadline before the city schedules a forced pickup at the owner's expense. Containers, per Sec. 24-27, have to come off the roadside on collection day and go back to a spot no closer to the street than the building line, screened by shrubbery, a fence or wall if they're visible, and can never sit at the curb overnight; a container left out past the day after pickup gets moved by the city for a fee under Sec. 24-47. The director of public works has final authority to determine service type, container size and the actual pickup dates for every account.