St. Petersburg, FL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

The City of St. Petersburg's Public Works Administration (POD) operates an exclusive single-stream recycling program. City Code § 27-497 states plainly that the City is the exclusive provider of recyclable-material collection for single-family residences and multifamily properties of four living units or less, and that no permit will be issued to any other person to perform that service; engaging in it without the City is unlawful. Participation works through the City's 95-gallon bulk recycling containers described in § 27-464's definitions, and only specific materials may go in them under § 27-540: aluminum, tin and steel cans, clean flattened cardboard, glass bottles of all colors, plastics numbered 1 through 7, newspaper, office paper, junk mail, paperboard, phone books and magazines.

Styrofoam and plastic bags are excluded, and § 27-540 makes it unlawful to deposit any other material into a bulk recycling container. Larger multifamily and commercial properties that use commercial containers instead of the small residential cart are outside the single-family exclusivity rule and may use permitted private haulers for materials other than the designated single-stream program. Bulk recycling containers at single-family residences are generally emptied once every two weeks per § 27-502, a slower cadence than the twice-weekly garbage pickup, reflecting the program's separate collection track. Violations of the article governing solid waste and recycling collection, including unauthorized private collection or unauthorized recycling-cart contents, are enforced under § 27-498.