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

Sec. 280(1)(d) of the City Code spells out precisely how yard debris has to be prepared before the solid waste/general services department will take it. Loose material like grass clippings and leaves must be bagged or placed in a container other than the city-issued refuse or recycling cart, and any reusable yard-waste container needs the director's approval before it can be used for collection; whatever is used must be set at the curb separate from the household's regular containers and never filled above its rim.

Larger, single pieces such as palm fronds, tree branches and limbs cannot simply be piled loose: they have to be cut or broken down to less than four inches in diameter and less than four feet long, then stacked at curbside. The section also caps what crews owe you: solid waste personnel are not responsible for cleaning up de minimis debris that scatters during a standard collection run, so a few stray leaves or twigs left behind after pickup are not a service failure. Sec.

282 supplies the companion rule for anyone hiring outside help: tree surgeons, landscapers and lawn services doing the cutting must haul away their own job debris rather than leaving it for the yard-waste cart, and items placed at the curb for pickup, yard waste included, cannot go out more than 24 hours ahead of the scheduled day.