Melbourne, FL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Sec. 48-1 defines the recycling container as a plastic, color-coded, 64-gallon cart with a yellow lid, supplied by the collector at the collector's expense under Sec. 48-30(4), which residents cannot use for anything other than the recyclable materials the chapter defines. Preparation standards in Sec. 48-30(4) require glass, plastic, and metal food containers to be rinsed before going in the cart; metal cans do not need to be flattened and labels do not need to be removed from cans, plastic, or glass, and newspapers and other paper products must be free of food and other contaminants.

The ordinance then lists prohibited contaminants by name: plastic bags and film, food waste, loose shredded paper, cigarette butts, disposable plastic cups and containers, styrofoam containers, hazardous waste, bio-hazardous waste, diapers, clam shell containers, and dirty pizza boxes are all barred from the recycling stream. Sec. 48-30(9)k adds an ownership rule: once recyclable material is placed at curbside in the city's containers, it becomes the property of the city, and it is a violation for anyone other than the authorized collector to pick it up or cause it to be picked up, which forecloses informal scavenging of curbside recycling.

Recyclable materials accepted under Sec. 48-1 include newspapers, magazines, phone books, catalogs, junk mail, and paperboard/cardboard boxes; unbroken clear, brown, and green glass containers (window glass and dishes excluded); aluminum and bi-metal beverage cans and other metal containers; plastics numbered one through seven; and aerosol containers.