Landfill and solid waste — Indian River County, Florida

The Indian River County Solid Waste Disposal District owns the county landfill on 74th Avenue SW, operates five Customer Convenience Centers from Roseland to Oslo, and pays for recycling pickup at every home in the county.

The district dates to Ordinance 87-67, which set up a way to measure waste volume at the county landfill and an assessment program to pay for it (Indian River County landfill page). County code describes the Solid Waste Disposal District as a dependent special district of Indian River County, and its governing board is the Board of County Commissioners sitting in a second role (County Code chapter 204). The district's assessment notice states that its boundaries include the entire Indian River County, so a home in Fellsmere, Vero Beach or Indian River Shores pays into the same disposal system as one in unincorporated Vero Lake Estates (assessment hearing notice).

The money arrives through the property tax bill. According to the Tax Collector, one line on the bill, labeled Solid Waste, covers curbside recycling for every county resident and also pays to run the landfill and the convenience centers (Indian River County Tax Collector). Questions about that line go to the Solid Waste Disposal District at (772) 226-3212. Because the charge is not based on value, the Tax Collector notes that tax exemptions do not reduce it.

The Indian River County Landfill is at 1325 74th Ave SW, Vero Beach, open every day from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm except New Year's Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

County code names the same site, 1325 74th Avenue SW, as the district landfill owned by the Solid Waste Disposal District (County Code chapter 204). Several loads skip the convenience centers and go straight there. Per the county page, builders' construction and demolition debris carries a charge and bypasses the centers for the landfill, and the same goes for land clearing debris and any branch thicker than three inches (Indian River County landfill page). A roofer clearing a job in Wabasso or a homeowner removing a dead oak in Gifford is therefore headed for the scale house on 74th Avenue SW, not a neighborhood center.

Fees at the scale house on 74th Avenue SW have a short history. Since 1995 the district has set disposal fees by resolution; the county states those rates remained the same for 27 years, until a 2023 rate study and a public hearing before the district board produced new landfill rates effective October 1, 2023, which will increase 3% annually thereafter (landfill tipping fee notice). The current schedule is linked from the county's solid waste pages as 25-26 Rates; this page does not quote amounts from it, and haulers should read the figures there or ask the scale house before a paid load.

Residents may haul their own trash to the Roseland or Gifford center. Under chapter 204, a natural person in Indian River County may collect and transport the residential waste, recyclables and yard trash generated at his or her own home to a district convenience center or the landfill without a franchise (County Code chapter 204). Collecting or hauling waste for profit, by contrast, is unlawful without a district franchise unless the activity is exempt.

Indian River County runs five Customer Convenience Centers, in Roseland, Winter Beach, Gifford, Oslo and Fellsmere, each open 7:00 am to 6:00 pm for residential use only and each closed two days a week.

Wednesday is the one day no center opens anywhere in the county. The county page states that all centers are closed on Wednesday and on New Year's Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, and that the centers are for residential use only (Indian River County landfill page). A north county household in Sebastian or Roseland has the center on 130th Street, the Fellsmere center sits on County Road 512, and Oslo and Gifford serve the south county.

Two rules in county code shape a visit. Commercial solid waste may not be taken from the business where it was generated to a district customer convenience center, and no person may salvage, take or remove materials from the landfill or the centers without the district's prior written approval (County Code chapter 204). A contractor's dumpster load from a U.S. 1 storefront belongs at the landfill, and scrap set down at Winter Beach stays there.

Beyond regular recyclables, the Customer Convenience Centers from Roseland to Oslo accept household hazardous waste such as lithium-ion batteries, fluorescent bulbs, motor oil, paint, mercury items and sharps, plus foam, film plastic, scrap metal, electronics, tires and small yard waste.

The county's list is specific. For safe disposal, a center will take medical sharps, mercury items, water or oil based paint, motor oil, fluorescent tubes and bulbs and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries; it also takes blue-cart rejects such as white Styrofoam, plastic wrap and bags, tires, electronics, scrap metal and small yard waste (Indian River County landfill page). That makes the Gifford or Roseland center the outlet for a leftover gallon of porch paint or a dead power tool battery.

City residents use the same sites. The City of Vero Beach tells its residents that Indian River County provides the hazardous waste disposal locations and points them to the county landfill and convenience centers (City of Vero Beach household hazardous waste page). Vero Beach households, which have their own city garbage trucks, still bring paint, oil and batteries to the county network on 41st Street, 65th Street or 1st Place.

Some items stay curbside in the unincorporated county, from Vero Lake Estates to Florida Ridge. The SWDD FAQ says WM collects up to four bulk trash items a week per home, including furniture, appliances such as stoves, washers and refrigerators, grills, lawn equipment, bicycles and vehicle tires up to 25 inches in diameter, while carpet and rugs are excluded from curbside collection (SWDD FAQ). Bulk yard waste follows separate rules on the district's yard waste page.

Curbside garbage in Indian River County depends on the address: Vero Beach runs its own trucks, Sebastian and Indian River Shores each levy their own waste collection assessment, and the unincorporated county moved to Universal Curbside Collection with WM on October 1, 2025.

The FAQ sets out the unincorporated service: effective October 1, 2025, unincorporated Indian River County and the Town of Indian River Shores residents receive curbside collection for trash, bulk trash, recycling and yard waste, and seasonal start and stop is no longer available (SWDD FAQ). The non-ad valorem portion of the bill rose by $181.70 for unincorporated homes getting 12 months of this service, replacing quarterly payments to WM. Residents of Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fellsmere saw only a new recycling cart and possibly a new collection day, and Orchid exchanged its recycling carts in April 2025.

Extra carts carry set prices in Gifford, Wabasso and the rest of the unincorporated county. A second recycling cart is free with no monthly fee, while an extra trash or yard waste cart costs a one-time $100 plus $10 a month, billed annually at $120 and paid directly to WM, with a limit of four trash and yard carts combined per home (SWDD FAQ). Multi-family buildings and condos on dumpster service are outside universal service, though condos receive bulk pickup.

Vero Beach is the exception for garbage. Its Solid Waste Division, at 3405 Airport West Drive, removes refuse inside the city limits from homes, apartments and businesses, normally twice a week for residences, while the county runs the residential recycling program within the city (City of Vero Beach Solid Waste Division). Recyclables collected from city businesses are reported to the Solid Waste Disposal District and may earn credits on their annual assessment.

The Board of County Commissioners, sitting as the Solid Waste Disposal District board, reimposes the countywide disposal assessment at a public hearing in the Commission Chambers at 1801 27th Street, Vero Beach.

For the fiscal year that began October 1, 2026, the hearing was set for 5:01 p.m. on September 9, 2026, in the Commission Chambers of the Indian River County Administration Complex (assessment hearing notice). The notice says the assessment funds solid waste and recyclable materials management and disposal services, facilities and programs, and that affected owners may appear and may file written objections with the board within 20 days of the notice. The proposed rates in that notice, for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026, were $125.06 per Waste Generation Unit for residential property, $79.12 per unit for commercial property and $46.62 per unit as a readiness-to-use charge. Because the notice puts the entire county inside the district, owners in Sebastian, Fellsmere and the other cities are in it too.

Each tax bill can therefore carry two solid waste charges: the district's disposal assessment and, depending on the address, a collection assessment from the county, Sebastian or Indian River Shores (Indian River County Tax Collector). Disputes about the disposal line go to the district at (772) 226-3212 and the Solid Waste Disposal District board, not to the Tax Collector, which only collects what levying authorities set.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Indian River County website.