Garbage and Recycling in Tallahassee

Inside the city limits the City of Tallahassee is the exclusive provider of waste collection, while unincorporated Leon County households subscribe to curbside service through Waste Pro.

The City's Waste Management Services page says the City provides garbage, bulky items, yard waste and recycling services for residential and commercial customers within the city limits of Tallahassee, and is the exclusive provider of waste collection there, excluding recycling and construction and demolition debris. The department behind it is Community Beautification and Waste Management, which the City named as the coordinator of its Cash for Trash event; questions go to City of Tallahassee Utilities at 850-891-4968.

Outside the limits the system changes hands. Leon County Solid Waste Management, at 7550 Apalachee Parkway, 850-606-1800, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., runs curbside collection, recycling, household hazardous waste and rural waste service centers for county residents. Its rural centers page says all Leon County residents may subscribe to curbside collection through Waste Pro, 850-606-1899, for weekly garbage and recycling, yard debris and bulky item pickup.

Tallahassee picks up garbage and recycling once a week and bulky items and yard waste every other week, on alternating weeks labeled Red or Blue.

The City's schedule gives each household a specific day inside its week, such as Red Monday or Blue Friday, shown on the online calendar and in the printed Waste Management Customer Service Guide mailed by January 1 each year, with an address lookup online. Residential electronics are picked up by request every Thursday, construction debris by request, and household hazardous waste is not picked up by the City. Garbage and recycling containers go to the curb no earlier than the day before pickup and come back no later than the day after; bulky items and yard waste go out no sooner than the weekend before. When a pickup day falls on or after a holiday the City of Tallahassee observes, service may come one day later.

Source: City of Tallahassee Waste Management Services rates. The apartment rate includes bulky items service and applies when complex management does not include garbage in rent. On the commercial side, the same schedule lists a $40.05 monthly refuse minimum, a $43.82 monthly charge for one weekly pickup of a 96 gallon barrel, and $135.16 per quarter hour for a special commercial pickup.

Tallahassee recycling is single-stream, so paper, cardboard, glass, metal cans and plastic containers go loose together in one cart.

The City of Tallahassee recycling container page explains that recyclables are collected all mixed together with no sorting by the customer, then taken to a Marpan Recycle Center and separated; the City says it contracted with Marpan, which installed new sorting equipment with screens and rollers. A home in the City solid waste service area without a recycling container can call 850-891-4968 to have one delivered.

The Tallahassee accepted list says all plastic containers that hold less than three gallons are recyclable, excluding plastic bags and Styrofoam, and all glass containers under three gallons; all aluminum, tin and steel cans; and all paper and cardboard except greasy pizza boxes, wet paper towels and drink boxes. Cardboard and gift boxes must be broken down, and lids come off. The City's garbage page puts wax- or plastic-coated cartons, chip bags, foil, plastic wrap, Styrofoam, paper plates and napkins on the trash side. Recyclables must go in loose, because bagged recyclables cause problems at the processor.

Contamination has a cost in Tallahassee. The City warns on the recycling page that a contaminated load can be rejected by the processor and taken to the landfill whole, and its commercial rate schedule lists a $207.90 contaminated recycling fee per load.

Tallahassee yard waste and bulky items ride the every-other-week collection within set size limits, and larger loads go to a special pickup or the twice-yearly Cash for Trash event.

The City of Tallahassee yard waste page says grass clippings, leaves, pine straw and shrub trimmings go in heavy duty trash bags or small cardboard boxes, and small limbs are stacked no larger than six feet long and four inches in diameter, in piles no higher than four feet. Larger limbs or trees need a special residential pickup, and commercial customers always need one. Bulky items are things 6 by 4 by 4 feet or smaller that do not fit in the garbage barrel, such as appliances, small furniture, mattresses, lamps, bikes, disassembled swing sets, plastic pools and barbecue grills.

Cash for Trash is the City's twice-a-year cleanout. The fall 2026 event was held Saturday, October 17, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Community Beautification and Waste Management facility, 2727 Major James Morgan Jr. Way (formerly Municipal Way), near Messer Field, the City's October 5, 2026 release announced. It is traditionally held on the third Saturday in April and October and is not for commercial customers. City residential customers with active garbage service who sign in get one $5 utility bill credit per account; accepted items include furniture, appliances, electronics, up to four tires, and batteries, cleaners, paints, pesticides and solvents, while household garbage, yard waste and construction debris are refused.

Tallahassee garbage is unloaded at the Leon County Transfer Station and trucked about 85 miles west to the Springhill Regional Landfill in Jackson County.

The county's Transfer Station page says the station, on 20 acres near Capital Circle SW and Gum Road, is only for commercial and governmental haulers such as Waste Pro, the City of Tallahassee and Florida State University (FSU). An average of 170 or more garbage trucks unload and 40 or more tractor-trailers load there each day, and the round trip to the landfill takes about 3.5 hours. The station is open 3 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The County Commission chose this route instead of building another household waste landfill in Leon County, and the old Apalachee Parkway site still accepts tires, clean yard waste, wood debris, electronics, recycling and household hazardous waste.

The Hazardous Waste Center at 7550 Apalachee Parkway, (850) 606-1803, open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., is free for all Leon County households; in FY 22-23 it processed 530 tons from an estimated 19,600 residents and businesses, of which 338 tons were recycled or reused. A household-only drop-off sits at 1800 N. Blair Stone Road. The county's tipping fee table charges City of Tallahassee residents $50.18 a ton for yard debris, takes up to four tires free and sends City residents' bulk items and recycling to Marpan.

Source: Leon County Rural Waste Service Centers. The centers are limited to residents of unincorporated Leon County, who get one free level pickup-bed load a day of garbage, recycling, bulk or yard waste. The county's recycling guide matches the City approach, with plastic bags, Styrofoam, chip bags and juice and milk cartons excluded.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, on the City of Tallahassee Waste Management Services, recycling container, accepted recycling, garbage, yard waste and bulky item pages and its October 5, 2026 Cash for Trash release, and on six Leon County Solid Waste Management pages.