Martin County, FL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Code of Ordinances § 67.2
- Prohibited act
- removing others' recyclables or containers
- Who may remove
- the person who set them out, or the County
- Related rule
- curbside sorting duties in § 151.111.B
- Enforcement
- code inspector citation; Special Magistrate hearing
- Max fine
- $1,000/day first offense, $5,000/day repeat
Summary
Martin County makes it unlawful to remove recyclable materials or recycling containers that residents have set out for collection, unless the remover is the person who placed the recyclables there or is authorized by the County. Sec. 67.2 of the Code of Ordinances defines the offense to protect the County's recycling stream from scavenging.
Recyclable materials shall mean all materials which are capable of being recycled, including but not limited to glass, paper, aluminum, and plastic, and which are placed in recycling containers. Recycling containers shall mean any receptacle purchased or distributed by or on behalf of Martin County for use by any person to collect recyclable materials. 67.2.B.Unauthorized removal of materials or containers.1.No person shall remove recyclable materials that are placed in or near recycling containers unless that person is the person who placed the recyclable materials in the recycling container or is a person authorized by the County to remove such materials.2.No person shall remove recycling containers from the designated collection location unless authorized to do so by the County.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 62 | Land Development Regulations: Supplement 62).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 2, Protection of Recyclable Materials, sits in Chapter 67 (Environmental Control), Article 1, In General, of the Martin County Code of Ordinances. It defines 'recyclable materials' as all materials capable of being recycled, including but not limited to glass, paper, aluminum and plastic, that are placed in recycling containers, and 'recycling containers' as any receptacle purchased or distributed by or on behalf of Martin County for collecting them. B bars two specific acts: no person may remove recyclable materials placed in or near a recycling container unless that person is the one who placed them there or is authorized by the County to remove them, and no person may remove a recycling container itself from its designated collection location without County authorization.
The rule exists because unauthorized scavenging of curbside recyclables both deprives the County's franchised hauler of material it is contracted to collect and can leave containers missing from the curb on collection day. It works alongside the separate curbside placement duties in Sec. the day before collection, and keep the containers in sanitary condition; Sec. 2 is the anti-scavenging counterpart to those set-out rules.
Violations & Fines
A person caught scavenging recyclables or hauling off a County recycling container faces general County code enforcement: a code inspector citation, and, if uncorrected, a hearing before the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate, which under Sec. 1.97 can impose a fine of up to $1,000 per day for a first violation and up to $5,000 per day for a repeat violation, with an unpaid fine recordable as a lien on the violator's property.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to take recyclables out of someone else's bin in Martin County?
Can someone take my empty recycling cart from the curb?
What materials count as 'recyclable materials' under this section?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Martin County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Martin County to another location·View the Florida trash & recycling overview
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