Miami Beach, FL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Sec. 90-341 sets a separate, business-facing recycling mandate from the multifamily rule in Sec. 90-340: as of January 1, 2013, every commercial establishment in Miami Beach must operate a recycling program under this section or a city-approved modified program under section 90-344. Unlike the residential rule, liability here is joint and several between the property owner and the business's own owner(s) and operator(s). Recycling contractors must help the public works director flag establishments with no program or a lapsed one. Businesses must separate three of seven listed material types from their solid waste using a single-stream process: paper products (newspaper, cardboard, magazines, catalogues, phone books, office paper), glass, metal food and beverage containers, other metal containers (including scrap metal but excluding fuel tanks), plastics, textiles, and clean wood waste.

Every covered business must use a city- and state-licensed recycling contractor. A business can instead apply to the public works director for a modified program under Sec. 90-344 if it self-hauls, generates fewer than the minimum required materials, or uses a hauler with post-collection separation. Sec. 90-345 enforcement began July 1, 2013 following a six-month warning period, and Sec. 90-346(e) allows the city to revoke a commercial establishment's business tax receipt or certificate of use for a fourth or subsequent offense in addition to fines.