The Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department contracts with three private companies to collect residential garbage, recycling, and yard waste in unincorporated Hillsborough County. This service is paid for through a non ad valorem solid waste collection and disposal assessment on the annual property tax bill.
Carts
Each home has been assigned a gray 95-gallon roll cart for garbage and a blue 65-gallon roll cart for recyclables. All household garbage items may be placed in the garbage cart. Hillsborough County ordinance requires that household garbage must be placed in plastic bags and tied before being placed into the garbage roll cart. Containers roll cart are required to be kept out of sight on non-collection days. This practice will keep your container cleaner and minimize odors. Do not load your garbage container with ashes or coals, recyclable items, household hazardous chemicals or medical waste, tires, paint, or any yard waste such as bagged or loose grass, leaves or small branches.
All items must fit in the carts in order to be collected. Bulky items that do not fit in your cart can be disposed of at any of the County’s four Community Collection Centers at no additional charge. Or, you can contact your Franchise Collector to request a Special Collection Service; there is a fee for this service.
You must use the County-provided roll carts for garbage and recyclables. Automated collection requires a standardized, heavy-duty container that will work with the trucks’ mechanisms.
There must be at least 3 feet of clearance around the roll cart at curbside in order for the trucks to be able to pick up the roll carts. At the curb, place the carts at least 3 feet away from other carts, yard waste piles, mailboxes, cars, trees, shrubs, fire hydrants and utility poles. Don’t block the carts with vehicles along the street or in the driveway.
Carts Needing Repairs
If your roll cart needs repairs, contact your Franchise Collector. The Franchise Collector will repair or replace a roll cart within three days from the date of request for repair, or on your next garbage collection day.
Stolen, Lost, or Missing Carts
If your cart is stolen, lost, or missing, contact your Franchise Collector, a Sheriff’s report will be filed, and a replacement roll cart will be delivered by the Franchise Collector within three days from the date of notification or on your next garbage collection day.
If you move, the roll carts should remain at the assigned home address to which they were delivered.
Recycling
All recyclable materials –- fiber (newspaper, cardboard, mixed paper, catalogs, magazines and junk mail) and containers (glass, steel, aluminum and plastic) -– are placed together in one collection container – a blue, 65-gallon roll cart. The 65-gallon roll cart can accommodate larger recyclable items such as cardboard boxes, rigid plastics, and plastic tubs and buckets.
Recyclable Items
- clean paperboard boxes (for example, cereal and food boxes)
- junk mail, magazines, newspapers and advertising
- writing paper, pads
- corrugated cardboard boxes
- brown paper bags
- aluminum cans and foil
- steel and tin cans
- glass bottles and jars
- all plastic bottles, jugs and containers No. 1-7 (look for the symbol on the container)
- all plastic film (for example, grocery bags – tie them up in a bundle)
- liquid food containers and gable top cartons (for example, milk and juice boxes)
Pick-Up Schedule
Garbage, recyclables, and yard waste must be placed out by no later than 6:00 AM on your collection day. Containers are required to be kept out of sight on non-collection days.
Garbage Pick up: Monday & Thursday
Recycling Pick up: Monday
Yard Waste Pick up: Thursday
Pick-Ups on Holidays
Occasionally, your designated collection day will fall on a holiday. If this occurs, your garbage, recyclables, or yard waste will not be collected.
Trash Pickup Holidays
- New Year’s Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
The County disposal facilities, which include Southeast County Landfill, Northwest and South County Transfer Facilities, Resource Recovery Facility, Hillsborough Heights Community Collection Center, Alderman Ford Community Collection Center, and all yard waste sites, will be closed on the above holidays
Missed Pickup
If you experience a missed pickup including garbage, recycling, or yard waste, please contact your Franchise Collector immediately to report the missed pick-up:
Republic Services
5210 W Linebaugh Ave
Tampa, Fl 33624
Phone: (813) 265-0292
Fax: (813) 961-3534
Email: republicservicesCSR@repsrv.com
You may also call the Public Utilities Department at (813) 272-5680 to report this.
Yard Waste Collection
Yard waste is collected one time per week and must be set out before 6:00 AM on your designated yard waste collection day. Yard waste will be collected manually at curbside, in containers provided by customers. You may set out up to twelve (12) 30-gallon containers of yard waste (branches, limbs, grass clippings, shrubbery, etc.) cut to 4-foot lengths and no more than 6 inches in diameter, neatly stacked, bundled, and/or bagged, for collection. The weight of each container, bundle, bag, or individual item must not exceed 50 lbs. Residential customers may also deliver excess amounts of yard waste to one of the County’s three (3) yard waste processing facilities.
Additional Information
For additional information, visit Hillsborough County Solid Waste Related Services