Cocoa Beach trash and recycling

The City of Cocoa Beach provides garbage pick-up as one of its own utility services, alongside sewer, reclaimed water and stormwater management (Cocoa Beach Utilities page).

The collection itself is done under contract: the city says it contracts with Waste Management to pick up and dispose of all solid waste, including yard debris (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page).

A new Cocoa Beach household asks the hauler for trash and recycling bins at 1-866-724-2989, according to the city's residency checklist (Cocoa Beach Establishing Residency page). The same checklist warns that being inside or outside city limits changes trash pickup, and suggests checking the address on bcpao.us; an address in unincorporated Brevard County uses the county's residential collection schedule instead (Cocoa Beach Establishing Residency page).

Brevard County's Solid Waste Management Department plays a different role inside Cocoa Beach. It runs the landfills, transfer stations, a mulching facility and household hazardous waste centers, and it oversees curbside collection services for residents in unincorporated Brevard County (Brevard County Solid Waste Management). Its facilities include the Central Disposal Facility, the Sarno Landfill and Transfer Station, the Titusville Transfer Station and the Mockingbird Way Mulching Facility (Brevard County Solid Waste Management).

Every Cocoa Beach household gets garbage collection twice a week: Monday and Thursday in the two southern collection areas, and Tuesday and Friday in the two northern areas (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule).

The southern areas run from 16th Street South up to 4th Street North, including the Country Club and Minutemen Causeway but not Convair Cove; the northern areas are listed as Convair Cove to Fisher Park and Diplomat to the northern city limits (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule). Recycling is collected once a week on one of the two garbage days, and the yard waste cart goes out on the other (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule). The city's Trash Pick-Up Schedule holds the full table by area, including the named side streets each area covers (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule).

Yard waste has two separate schedules on the city's pages. The first is the weekly yard cart day: Thursday for 5th Street South to 4th Street North, Monday for 16th Street South to 5th Street South and west of Brevard Avenue, Tuesday for Convair Cove to Fischer Park, and Friday for Diplomat to the northern city limits (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule). The Yard and Bulk Waste page gives the same cart days (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page).

The second is the bulk yard waste day for large piles: Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday and Monday for those same four areas in that order, according to the Cocoa Beach yard waste table (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page). The same page also says piles of 3 cubic yards or more are collected by a different truck every other week and asks residents to call or email the hauler when a pile is at the curb (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page).

Small loose yard waste, such as palm fronds, tree branches and leaves, goes in the yard waste cart; anything left outside the cart may not be picked up and can be tagged by the hauler (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page).

Those rules took effect on January 1, 2022, when the hauler began operating under new Cocoa Beach yard waste collection guidelines that were attached to the yard waste carts delivered before that date (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page).

A pile of 3 cubic yards or larger, which the city compares to the size of a picnic table, goes out loose for the separate truck, and the hauler wants a call at 321-636-6894 or 1-866-724-2989, or an email, when it is at the curb (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page). Where the pile sits matters. The Cocoa Beach FAQ asks for yard waste at the curb or edge of the street but not in the roadway, with large piles kept away from trees, hydrants, poles and other structures so the clamshell truck has room to reach them (Cocoa Beach FAQs). When a large pile is missed, the FAQ says the usual reason is that it was piled too close to a tree, pole, hydrant or other structure and the bucket could not get to it (Cocoa Beach FAQs).

Tree work done by a contractor is a different case. The city pays disposal fees at the county landfill for yard debris, and contractors who work in Cocoa Beach are required to take the debris with them when the job is done (Cocoa Beach FAQs).

By appointment: furniture, large boxes and other items too large for the cart must be scheduled with the hauler, and fees apply based on the size of the load in cubic yards (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page).

The Cocoa Beach yard waste page lists 321-636-6894 or 1-866-724-2989, or email, for bulk scheduling (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page). The FAQ answer on couches and appliances says the city's contract includes special pick-up of many items of that kind and gives 321-723-4455 for arranging one and learning the allowances and restrictions (Cocoa Beach FAQs). Both numbers appear on current Cocoa Beach pages.

Callers need their account number. The city says it is printed on the City of Cocoa water, sewer and trash bill, or can be had by calling the City of Cocoa at 321-433-8800 (Cocoa Beach Yard and Bulk Waste page). The City of Cocoa is the separate city that provides Cocoa Beach water service, and its utility bill is paid on the City of Cocoa website (Cocoa Beach Utilities page).

On most holidays yes; on five, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, Cocoa Beach collection is skipped and the route is serviced on the next scheduled day (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule).

Several holidays are ordinary pickup days in Cocoa Beach: the city schedule lists New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Labor Day and the day after Thanksgiving as regular collection days (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule). For holiday schedule hours, the city page points to the hauler's Florida holiday site (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule).

No: leaving grass clippings in the street, curb or gutter, or blowing them into a storm drain, is a violation of the Cocoa Beach city code, and violators are subject to fines by city Code Enforcement officers (Cocoa Beach FAQs).

The city's reason is the lagoon. The FAQ calls grass clippings one of the primary causes of pollution on the Banana River Lagoon: they settle on the bottom of canals and rivers and decompose into muck that blocks sunlight from the underwater vegetation that fish and marine mammals depend on (Cocoa Beach FAQs).

A missed pickup is reported to the hauler first, then to Cocoa Beach Public Works at 321-868-3219 with the hauler's ticket number if the response is slow (Cocoa Beach FAQs).

The FAQ gives the hauler's number for missed trash as 321-636-6894 in one answer and 321-723-4455 in another, and lists 321-723-4455 for yard waste that was not picked up as scheduled (Cocoa Beach FAQs). Public Works, which also takes trash service questions, works out of 1600 Minutemen Causeway, Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (Cocoa Beach Trash Pick-Up Schedule).

Paint, lawn chemicals and similar household hazardous waste have their own drop-off hours: the Cocoa Beach FAQ lists Monday through Saturday, 8 am to 4 pm, for household hazardous waste, and the Brevard County landfill's hours as Monday through Saturday, 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, with landfill policies at 321-633-1888 (Cocoa Beach FAQs). The county Solid Waste Management Department offers electronics and hazardous waste disposal, prescription drug drop-off locations and storm debris collection information (Brevard County Solid Waste Management). The Brevard County household hazardous waste and recycling guide covers those county sites.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, against the Cocoa Beach trash schedule, yard and bulk waste, FAQ, residency and utilities pages and Brevard County's Solid Waste Management page, for collection days, yard rules and phone numbers.