Palm Beach Gardens, FL Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 54-59, in Chapter 54's Article III on collection, ties household pickup frequency to a schedule the director of public works sets rather than fixing specific collection days in the Code itself; Sec. 54-36 separately requires the director to mail every household using city collection a notice of its assigned garbage and refuse collection days at least once a year. Sec. 54-59 covers garbage, refuse, and yard and garden trash together, and it gives the director a specific remedy when a resident places yard or garden trash on the street outside the prescribed schedule: the director may arrange collection of that misplaced trash at the owner's expense, with the charge set by the director to include the amount of any overtime pay the extra, off-schedule collection causes city employees.

Sec. 54-60 caps what the city will pick up per household during a collection period at a reasonable accumulation, subject to the container limits in Sec. 54-56, so households generating unusually large volumes of trash cannot assume the standard pickup will clear all of it. Preparation for collection under Sec. 54-56 requires garbage, wet-down ashes and refuse to go into standard garbage containers, drained of liquid, with garbage wrapped in paper before it goes into the container. Chapter 54's enforcement section, Sec. 54-37, makes it unlawful to fail to comply with any of these collection provisions, treats each day of violation as a separate offense, and authorizes the director of public works, director of utilities or a code enforcement officer to cite a violator, exposing them to the Code's general $500.00 fine or 60-day jail penalty under Sec. 1-18.