Trash and Recycling in Cocoa

Inside Cocoa city limits, garbage, recycling and yard waste are collected by Waste Management of Florida, Inc. under a franchise agreement with the City of Cocoa, and the city sends collection questions to that hauler at (321) 636-6894 (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

The city's garbage FAQ is out of date on the contract: it gives the franchise term as 2006 to September 30, 2021, and still describes council readings of a new agreement on August 24 and September 14, 2021, with new rates from October 1, 2021, in the future tense (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). The current figures sit on the city's Schedule C rate sheet, which is marked updated October 2026 (Cocoa Schedule C).

City service applies to properties inside Cocoa city limits, and the annexation FAQ says all of those services are performed by the hauler under contract to the City of Cocoa (Cocoa annexation FAQ). For homes in unincorporated Brevard County, the garbage FAQ names Port St. John, Canaveral Groves and Merritt Island and gives two numbers for a missed pickup: the hauler at 321-636-6894 or Brevard County Solid Waste at 321-633-2042 (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). On the county side, Brevard County Solid Waste Management describes curbside collection oversight for unincorporated residents alongside its landfills, transfer stations, mulching facility and household hazardous waste centers (Brevard County Solid Waste Management). The Brevard County guide to curbside trash in unincorporated areas covers those addresses near Cocoa.

A City of Cocoa home gets garbage collection twice a week, recycling and cart-sized yard waste once a week each, and bulk trash and bulk yard waste once every other week (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

Sources for the table: City of Cocoa garbage FAQ (included services) and Cocoa bulk waste page (bulk items).

Cocoa does not print collection days as a street list. The garbage FAQ sends residents to an interactive collection days map, where typing an address brings up the regular trash, recycling and yard days along with the bulk trash and bulk yard waste days (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). The bulk waste page adds that the map displays residential services only and does not include multi-family or commercial units (Cocoa bulk waste page), and the FAQ sends commercial dumpster or can service requests to the hauler at (321) 636-6894 (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

An older Cocoa answer gives fixed days. The annexation FAQ says properties within Cocoa city limits get trash pickup twice per week with days varying by location, but also says yard waste is serviced on Wednesdays and yard waste piles on Thursdays (Cocoa annexation FAQ). The garbage FAQ and the bulk waste page tie yard and bulk days to the address map instead (Cocoa bulk waste page).

Since Monday, September 29, 2025, Cocoa residents no longer call to schedule bulk trash or bulk yard waste, and both go out on a set day shown on the city's address map (Cocoa bulk waste page).

The City of Cocoa pages word the frequency two ways. The bulk waste page says bulk trash and yard waste are collected once every other week, on alternating weeks, and the garbage FAQ's list of included services says once every other week (alternating weeks), while another answer on the same FAQ says bulk items will be picked up once a week alternating weekly (Cocoa bulk waste page; City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). The FAQ also says the new bulk process did not change regular trash, recycling and yard waste days in Cocoa.

Acceptable bulk trash in Cocoa is appliances, furniture, grills with no propane tanks, and other items too large to fit inside the provided cart, while fencing, construction material, wood, cement, automotive parts, bathtubs and hazardous waste are refused (Cocoa bulk waste page). Appliances are recyclable in Brevard County, so they are tagged and a separate truck comes back for them within 48 hours of the regular bulk day; the Cocoa FAQ gives this as the reason a refrigerator can still be at the curb after the bulk truck passes (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

Bulk yard waste in Cocoa stays apart from other bulk waste and is never bagged. The two city pages give different minimum sizes for a pile: the bulk waste page says yard waste should measure at least 3 cubic feet, about the size of a picnic table, while the garbage FAQ describes about 3 cubic yards, approximately the size of a picnic table (Cocoa bulk waste page; City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). Smaller amounts go in the yard waste cart, in an empty garbage cart used as a supplement, or are held on the property for the next week's yard waste pickup, and landscaping companies must haul away the debris from their own work under a City of Cocoa ordinance (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

Placement matters as much as content. Cocoa piles must stay clear of power lines and tree limbs, storm drains, fire hydrants, water meters and other city utilities, and the city warns that ignoring the guidelines means no pickup and possible Code Enforcement fines (Cocoa bulk waste page).

Cocoa uses single-stream recycling, so recyclables share one cart with no sorting, but every item must be clean with no food or liquid, and plastic shopping bags are not accepted (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

The Cocoa garbage FAQ explains that thin plastic shopping bags cause problems with the sorting machinery and points to the collection bins most stores keep near the front. Household hazardous waste is not collected at the curb in Cocoa: the FAQ lists solvents, paints, auto fluids and household or pool chemicals, and says Brevard County Solid Waste conducts household chemical collection during the year, reachable at 321-633-2042 (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). The Brevard County household hazardous waste guide covers the drop-off side.

Fencing is not part of standard Cocoa service; owners arrange disposal at a facility that accepts it, and the city names the Brevard County Landfill as the contact (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). The county Solid Waste Management Department lists the Central Disposal Facility, the Sarno Landfill and Transfer Station, the Mockingbird Way Mulching Facility and the Titusville Transfer Station, along with household electronics disposal and storm debris collection (Brevard County Solid Waste Management). Its office is at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Building A, Suite 118, in Viera (Brevard County Solid Waste Management).

Cocoa garbage containers can go to the curb after 7 p.m. the day before collection and must be removed by 7 p.m. on collection day (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

Carts sit within one foot of the curb, at least three feet apart and three feet from other objects, not under a tree or power line and never over a storm drain, according to the City of Cocoa FAQ. A broken or missing cart is replaced through the hauler at (321) 636-6894, which is also the number the FAQ gives for activating service at a new Cocoa residence and for changing a can size, where additional charges may apply (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

When a holiday falls on the regular day, there is no Cocoa collection that day and regular pickup resumes on the next scheduled day. The FAQ names Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day as holidays when trash is not collected (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ). Part-time residents are not exempt: a City of Cocoa ordinance requires regular solid waste service regardless of temporary residency, the same FAQ says.

Cocoa garbage service is billed monthly on the city water utility bill, and Schedule C lists residential rates of $12.58 for solid waste, $4.43 for recycling and $7.48 for green waste (Cocoa Schedule C).

Source for the table: Cocoa Schedule C. The garbage FAQ says garbage service is billed monthly and included on the Cocoa water utility bill, with no separate bill (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

Every active residential water account in Cocoa must have solid waste, recycling and green waste collection billed on it, and all inside-the-city properties receiving utility services are charged the solid waste fee unless solid waste services are provided independently (Cocoa Utilities Handbook). A second charge appears once a year: the Cocoa FAQ explains that the annual property tax bill carries a Brevard County solid waste disposal fee for the Brevard County Landfill (City of Cocoa garbage FAQ).

The Cocoa Utilities Handbook says senior citizens over 62, disabled citizens, and military active duty or certain veterans may be eligible for a discount on residential City of Cocoa garbage service, that discounts cannot be stacked, and that the application and supporting documents go to the Customer Service Division (Cocoa Utilities Handbook). A shorter passage in the same handbook names only seniors over 62 and disabled citizens for discounted residential garbage service. An account processed for delinquency two or more times in twelve consecutive months forfeits any discount or exemption (Cocoa Utilities Handbook).

Last verified: October 21, 2026, line by line against the City of Cocoa bulk waste page, the garbage and annexation FAQs, the Schedule C rate sheet and the Utilities Handbook, with the county solid waste department page read for the unincorporated side.