Okaloosa County, FL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

" Residents are responsible for separating recyclables from garbage, yard trash, and bulk waste before setting them out, and the ordinance lists exactly what the franchisee must take: newspapers and inserts, corrugated cardboard, mixed paper such as brown paper bags, magazines, phonebooks, junk mail, and shredded paper in a bag, aluminum cans, plastic containers and bottles marked with SPI resin codes 1 through 7, glass bottles and jars, tin and ferrous cans, and polycoated cartons. The county reserves the right to add or remove material types from that list.

Materials have to go in a recycling container rather than loose at the curb, and the franchisee is required to handle those containers carefully, without bending or otherwise abusing them, and to empty them fully and leave them at the collection point. A qualifying handicapped resident can request rear- or side-of-house recycling pickup at no extra charge on the same terms as trash service under section 11-191(a)(2). The franchisee and the county jointly run a public education program encouraging residents to use the recycling service, monitored by the public works director or a designee.