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

Sarasota County runs a mandatory residential recycling program: Sec. 106-41 requires every Residential Real Property inside the Solid Waste Service District to use the county's franchisee for Collection Services, and folds Program Recyclables into that same mandatory Collection alongside regular Residential Waste. Ownership of what you set out does not stay with the resident. Sec. 106-51 transfers title in curbside Program Recyclables to Sarasota County (or its authorized agent) the moment the bin hits the curb or another authorized collection point, which is why Sec.

106-52 bars anyone but the Franchisee from picking through or hauling off that material, treating scavenging as a misdemeanor punishable under general Florida law rather than just a code infraction. The list of what counts as a Program Recyclable is not fixed by ordinance text alone: Sec. 706, bars the county from dropping any of those state-mandated materials, and lets the Board add or drop other materials only after weighing collection and processing costs against resale value, a 12-month waiting period once a deletion is proposed, and a public hearing where any person, including a municipality, may testify.

When a material is added or removed, the Executive Director sets an implementation schedule covering separation, collection, processing and any rate change tied to the switch. Separately, Sec. 106-55 makes it unlawful to knowingly mix recyclables into the regular solid waste stream in any combination the county has not approved, and Sec. 106-56 bars burning recyclables outright except in a permitted power-generating plant under state rules.