Hialeah, FL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Recycling collection frequency
- Every two weeks
- Non-serviced properties (hotels/motels)
- Recycle at least twice a month
- Accepted materials
- Newspaper, glass, cans, plastics, paper, cardboard
- Ownership after set-out
- Becomes city property
- Governing section
- Sec. 78-63
Summary
Hialeah runs a mandatory citywide residential recycling program: Sec. 78-63 requires every household account holder to separate recyclables into the city-issued container, and failing to recycle, or setting materials out mixed with garbage for two straight collections, is itself a violation.
Each household account holder is obligated to separate recyclable materials and place them inside the designated container provided for collection. Failure to recycle is a violation of this section. Failure to set out recyclable material in the designated container for collection for two consecutive collection days together with the presence of any recyclable material commingled with, in the container designated for garbage collection, or otherwise disposed of or set out for collection as garbage shall constitute a rebuttable presumption that a violation has occurred for failure to recycle.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 78-61 states the program's basis: since residential waste is 55 to 65 percent of the city's municipal solid waste stream, Hialeah established a mandatory residential citywide recycling program to conserve resources and cut landfill volume. The operative duty sits in Sec. 78-63(b): each household account holder must separate recyclable materials and place them in the container the city provides, and failure to recycle is itself a violation. If recyclables are missing from the recycling container for two consecutive collection days while recyclable material turns up commingled in the garbage container, that is a rebuttable presumption of a failure-to-recycle violation.
Recyclable material is collected once every two weeks on a schedule the director of solid waste sets, per Sec. 78-62. Residential properties the city does not service directly, including hotels and motels, are not exempt: Sec. 78-64 requires them to arrange recycling collection at least twice a month through a private hauler, keep containers or a dumpster sized for at least 35 pounds of recyclables per unit between pickups, and accept newspaper, glass, aluminum and steel cans, plastics, paper and cardboard. Once recyclables are set out, Sec.
78-65 makes them city property, and Sec. 78-66 makes it unlawful for anyone besides the city's authorized collector to pick through or scavenge them. Sec. 78-67 directs fine revenue collected under this article back into funding the recycling program itself.
Violations & Fines
Failing to separate recyclables is a violation of Sec. 78-63 on its own; two straight collection days with the recycling cart empty while recyclables show up in the garbage cart creates a rebuttable presumption of that violation. Scavenging set-out recyclables without the city's written consent is a separate offense under Sec. 78-66. General Chapter 78 penalties in Sec. 78-7 apply where no specific fine is set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is recycling mandatory for Hialeah households?
Can I keep the recyclables I find at the curb?
Do hotels and motels have to recycle too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hialeah
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Recycling Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Miami-Dade County handle recycling rules.