Gainesville Residential Curbside Collection Program

• Make sure that all refuse is put inside your cart, with the lid closed, or in official yellow bags. Yellow bags can be purchased at Publix, Albertsons or Zell's Hardware. Please ask for them at the service counter.
• Place your garbage cart, yard trash, recycling bin, and/or yellow bags at curbside by 7 A.M. on your collection day.
• Do not place the carts, bins or bags in the street or within four feet of each other or obstacles.
• The Solid Waste Division provides residential collection services for solid waste, recycling and yard waste through an exclusive franchise. The following items are accepted in the curbside Big Blue recycling program:
  • Newspapers; magazines; telephone books; catalogs; brown paper bags; corrugated cardboard boxes that are 3' X 3' or smaller go in your orange bin. Effective February 1, 2008 the orange bin will also accept mixed office paper and junk mail.
  • Glass bottles and jars; aluminum and steel cans (including empty non-hazardous aerosol cans); and, #1 through #7 plastic bottles, jars and tubs go in your blue bin. Remember to remove plastic caps and throw them away.
• Regular household batteries are no longer classified as hazardous and may now be thrown in your garbage.

Residents may choose from four volume-based service levels: 20, 35, 64 and 96-gallon solid waste (garbage) cart service. Each of these service levels includes: garbage, recycling and yard trash collection service, one day each week; scheduled collection of furniture and appliances; disposal of solid waste; and processing of recyclables and yard trash.

	CARTSIZE	APPROXIMATE GARBAGE CAPACITY	CURBSIDE MONTHLY RATE
	20 gallon	1 kitchen-sized bag	$13.21
	35 gallon	2 kitchen-sized bags	$17.18
	64 gallon	5 bags	$21.14
	96 gallon	7 bags	$26.42

Yard trash includes leaves, grass clippings and small tree limbs. It does NOT include boards or lumber. Put yard trash in plastic trash bags, garbage cans (not the cart used for regular garbage collection), or bundles and place it curbside on your designated day by 7 A.M. In the City, yard trash pickup is unlimited. Limbs can be no larger than 5 feet long and 6 inches in diameter and no heavier than 40 pounds. Place limbs in small piles for easy handling. If you have a tree surgeon cut down a tree, they are required to remove all debris from that tree, Sec 27-73(11).

Here are a few important tips:

• If you do not have a cart, call our office to order one. In the meantime, make sure you bag all of your trash and place it at curbside for pickup on the normal collection day.
• If your cart is damaged and needs repair, call our office at (352) 334-2330. Continue to use your broken cart until it is replaced.
• Call on the next business day anytime your collection is missed.
• All corrugated cardboard boxes should be emptied and flattened for pickup. Place them inside your recycling bin or next to it if they are too large. Do not place boxes inside of boxes as they will not be picked up. All boxes must be broken down flat no larger than 3' X 3'. If the boxes are larger than 3' X 3' you may cut them down. Food contaminated boxes (e.g. Pizza boxes) and Paperboard (e.g. cereal/shoe boxes) are not accepted in our curbside collection.
• Return all carts and recycling bins to your residence or the appropriate enclosure on non-collection days.
• For collection of furniture, appliances and other large or bulky items, please call Solid Waste Division at 334-2330 to arrange a special bulk item pickup. Please specify what items require collection.

Household hazardous waste such as dry cell batteries, paint, fluorescent bulbs, used motor oil, etc. may be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center at 5125 NE 63rd Avenue( 2 miles N of airport off Waldo Road). If you are not sure your waste is hazardous, you should call the center at 334-0440

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

Only five holidays will affect collection service:
1. Thanksgiving Day
2. Christmas Day
3. New Year's Day
4. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday
5. Fourth of July
There will be no collection on the above holidays and collection services for the remainder of the week will be delayed by one day. Collection will return to the normal schedule the following week.

Also visit these Web sites:
	Big Blue Recycling Program Global Recycling Network CBOT Recyclables Exchange Composting Yard & Kitchen Waste

Additionally, the City provides information to residents and businesses on waste reduction, including recycling and backyard composting. The volume-based solid waste rates and other waste reduction strategies resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of solid waste disposed and increased recycling for households. The "big" blue and orange 18-gallon recycling bins for the curbside program and compost bins are available at 201 NW 10th Avenue, from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., Monday through Friday. There is no charge for these bins. For further information regarding recycling or backyard composting, please call (352) 334-2130. To help improve commercial waste reduction a free waste assessment is available to area businesses. For information regarding the volume-based solid waste collection system or to change your garbage cart size, call (352) 334-2330. E-mail us for more information! waste@cityofgainesville.org