Cape Coral, FL Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 9-65 defines HORTICULTURAL WASTE as the products of pruning resulting in refuse not suitable for standard containers, but with stems or branches not exceeding four inches in diameter or six feet in length, or leaves, cuttings of grass, weeds and branches, and vines. Section 9-67(b)(1) requires the franchise hauler to collect horticultural waste once a week at curbside or edge of street, alongside garbage and trash. Section 9-67(b)(6) spells out the placement rules for waste too large for a cart: tree branches, palm fronds, brush, and trimmings must be cut to no more than six feet long and four inches in diameter, a length limit that doesn't apply to palm fronds, and accumulations under 50 pounds must be bundled and tied in compact piles, bagged in biodegradable paper lawn bags, or otherwise stacked safely within three feet of the curb and inside the owner's side property lines.

Loose palm fronds all have to face the same direction, and none of it can block pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Horticultural waste can go out up to four days before the scheduled pickup day, unlike garbage and trash, which can only go out the evening before. Waste that skips these limits becomes non-compliant horticultural waste under Section 9-65(9), triggering the separate nuisance-abatement process in Section 9-71.