Garbage Pickup Info

Residential Curbside Collection Guidelines

Palm Beach County is going Automated. Every residential curbside customer will receive a new 95 gallon cart that will be serviced by specialized trucks equipped with cart tipping equipment. The cart will be delivered to your home by the hauler prior to the new contract start date, most likely in the month of September. Some things you may wish to know about the carts:

• All garbage must be placed inside the cart to be collected. IF IT IS NOT IN THE CART, IT WILL NOT BE PICKED UP! When placing your cart at the curb, make sure the ARROWS are facing the street so the automated truck can pick up the cart.
• Garbage collection will be provided two (2) days a week; Wednesday and Saturday.
• Customers will receive a 95 gallon cart.
• Some residents may find they need a second cart. Those residents will be able to purchase a second cart at a one-time cost of $65. Contact SWA at 561-697-2700 to purchase an additional cart.The resident will not incur any additional collection or disposal charges and the hauler will be fully responsible for the repair and/or replacement of the cart.
• Please do not use your new cart until Oct. 1, 2019.
• Detailed cart and collection guidelines will be attached on your new cart for your review and you can also find this information as a downloadable PDF at the end of this page.

NO changes to our Recycling Service

Bulk Curbside Collection Guidelines

Bulk Service will be provided one day per week and limited to no more than three (3) items.

•  Bulk items include appliances, furniture and any other large household items that do not fit in your cart.
•  Bulk service will be provided on one (1) of your regular collection days. OUR BULK COLLECTION DAY IS NOW ONLY SATURDAY!
• Some residents may have more than three (3) items. Contact SWA Customer Service at 561-697-2700 for an estimate to have the additional items removed.
• Debris from minor home repairs, called construction and demolition debris or C&D, will be limited to two (2) cubic yards per week.
• C&D will be collected on your scheduled bulk service day which is Saturday.
• C&D must be contained in cans or plastic bags weighing less than fifty (50) pounds.
• Containerized C&D material exceeding two (2) cubic yards will be tagged and not removed.

• Debris other than palm fronds and tree branches, such as leaves, tree and hedge trimmings, pine needles, etc. should be containerized, preferably in a garbage can, paper lawn and refuse bags, or plastic bags.
• Tree branches and palm fronds should be neatly stacked in a pile that does not exceed six (6) cubic yards.
• The yard waste collection limit continues to be six (6) cubic yards per week, but under the new collection contract the hauler will no longer be servicing piles that exceed this limit. Residents are encouraged to place no more than six (6) cubic yards per week at the curb.
• Tree branches placed at the curb must be cut into pieces that are no more than six (6) feet in length and weigh no more than fifty (50) pounds each to facilitate manual loading. Palm fronds can be any length.
• Piles that exceed this size will be tagged and photographed and the information forwarded to the SWA Customer Service Department. It will be the customer’s responsibility to arrange for the removal of the pile by either contacting the SWA Customer Service Department (for a fee), making other arrangements to have the pile removed (pay a third party contractor to dispose), or decrease the size of the debris to six (6) cubic yards by storing the excess debris at your residence and placing it down the following week for pickup.

6 Cubic Yards = 18’ Long X 3’ Wide X 3’ High

What if I know I am going to have more?

You can call SWA Customer Service at 561-697-2700 to request an estimate to have the pile removed. We have included in our contract an established rate of $8 per cubic yard for the service. Upon payment, the material will be removed within 72 hours.

Alternatively, you can contract with anyone you want to remove the material, or if you have hired a commercial landscaper, make sure they include removal in their quote.

Your SWA yard waste assessment and collection service is intended for routine landscape maintenance, not debris generated by land clearing and tree removal activities. Piles that contain these materials, or that are excessively large, cannot be efficiently collected manually or mechanically and impede the ability of the waste hauler to provide quality, affordable service to the hundreds of other residential customers on the route. In short, this is being done to ensure that every residential customer receives a base level of service that meets the needs of the overwhelming majority of residents at the lowest possible cost.

All information provided on this page is taken from the SWA website https://www.swa.org/601/2019-Collection-Contract


Links below to other important information:

Video on how much is 6 cubic yards

SWA Yard debris info

SWA Bulk item info

SWA Service Guidelines