Garbage services are required for residential homes in Gainesville to promote and protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the city. Each residential dwelling unit in buildings with four or fewer dwelling units within the city shall require the weekly collection of all garbage and household trash, recycling, and yard waste in accordance with the schedule of fees set out in Appendix A. Payment for refuse services shall be paid monthly to the city and charges included on the regular monthly statement for utility service. (per Chapter 27 of the City of Gainesville, Code of Ordinances).
- MOVING IN - If you are missing a garbage cart or recycle bins, or would like to change your garbage cart size please contact the Solid Waste Division. Requests for replacement or additional recycling bins can also be submitted online. There is no additional fee for new or replacement recycling bins.
- Residential refuse (garbage) services within the City of Gainesville are linked with your utility services provided by Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU). To start, stop or relocate service, please visit GRU. Each home should already have an assigned garbage cart and recycling bins (blue and orange bins).
- To ensure proper billing, always check to make sure the number on your garbage cart matches the number printed on your GRU utility bill. Residents need to report billing errors or overcharges to the Solid Waste Division in a timely manner to receive full credit back. Delayed notification may result in only partial refuse credit to the account. Ultimately, residents are responsible for checking their monthly billings to ensure that the refuse services provided correspond with the rates charged at the time of the service.
Each garbage cart has a unique serial number. You can identify your assigned black garbage cart by matching garbage numbers with the refuse cart number printed on your monthly GRU utility bill. The first number of the cart serial number indicates the size (gallons) of your cart ("2" = 20 gal., "3" = 35 gal., "6" = 64 gal., "9" = 96 gal.).- MOVING OUT - Residents are required to leave the garbage cart, and recycling bins behind when moving as each trash cart has a serial number that is assigned to a specific address. Garbage carts and recycle bins are the property of the collection contractor and the City of Gainesville. Residents may be charged additional fees for missing garbage carts or cart sizes that don't match up to billing records.
- Residents are encouraged to make less waste and save money by selecting the garbage cart size that best fits their needs. There is no charge for the first garbage cart size change for new residents requesting a cart size change within 30 days of activating services. A $15.00 service fee will be charged to each additional cart service level change made within 30 days of activating services and cart service level changes made after 30 days from when services are activated. Please contact the Solid Waste Division to request a garbage cart size change.
Monthly cart rate based on cart size and service type:
| Cart Size |
Garbage Capacity |
Curbside Monthly Rate |
Backdoor Monthly Rate |
|
Mini-cart (20 gallons)
|
1 kitchen-sized bag per week
|
$20.50 |
$34.50 |
|
Small (35 gallons)
|
2 to 3 kitchen-sized bags per week
|
$26.50 |
$40.00 |
|
Medium (64 gallons)
|
4 to 5 kitchen-sized bags per week
|
$32.75 |
$48.50 |
|
Large (96 gallons)
|
6 to 7 kitchen-sized bags per week
|
$40.75 |
$59.50 |
Refuse service includes the weekly collection of garbage, recycling, yard waste, and bulk items. Large appliance and electronics collection by appointment at no additional charge.
Make Your Cart Service Level Change Request
- A “mini-cart” is a 20-gallon garbage cart and is the smallest sized garbage cart offered by the City for residential collection service. The mini-cart holds approximately one kitchen-sized bag of garbage a week. Generally, households that opt for the mini-cart generate very little garbage on a weekly basis as they only have one occupant in the home or the occupants are dedicated recyclers. Some of the older mini-cart models in use are green in color. Newer models are black.
- Residents with higher volumes of waste may request additional garbage carts. The extra fee for additional carts will be charge at the standard posted rates for each cart size. The maximum number carts allowed per household account is three (3). If a household is in need of more than three 96-gallon garbage carts, they should consider opting for commercial services.
- Residents need to report billing errors or overcharges to the Solid Waste Division in a timely manner to receive full credit back. Delayed notification may result in only partial refuse credit to the account. Ultimately, residents are responsible for checking their monthly billings to ensure that the refuse services provided correspond with the rates charged at the time of the service.
Residents may petition for service credits related to their refuse services by contacting the Solid Waste Division. Service credit requests must be submitted by the individual named on the service account for one of the following reasons:
Billing errors or overcharges credit requests:
- Residents need to report billing errors or overcharges to the Solid Waste Division in a timely manner to receive full credit back. Delayed notification may result in only partial refuse credit to the account. Ultimately, residents are responsible for checking their monthly billings to ensure that the refuse services provided correspond with the rates charged at the time of the service.
Vacant homes or vacation refuse credit requests:
- Properties must have been vacant for at least ninety (90) consecutive days to qualify for a refuse credit.
- Refuse credit eligibility requires the account holder to notify the Solid Waste Division in writing (via email or mail) within three months after the home has been vacant. Please be sure to include information such as the property address and the period in which you are requesting a service credit.
- There is a minimum fixed cost of service per month is $6.50 (non-refundable) and credits can not exceed 12 months.
Extended periods without collection services credit requests:
- Missed collections must have been reported to and documented by the Solid Waste Division.
- Delayed collection services or undocumented missed collection are not eligible for service credits.
- Post-storm debris collection delays are not eligible for service credits. Regular weekly residential collection services may be temporarily suspended or delayed after a storm event. However, all properly set-out material will ultimately be collected, but it may take some extra time.
New Refuse Account Set Up Fee:
- There is a new refuse account set up fee of $13.50 which will be added to your GRU bill.
For more information or to submit your service credit request, please contact the Solid Waste Division at 352-334-2330 or by email.
Residents with a physical disability and unable to set out carts or bins curbside for collection should contact the Solid Waste Division to apply for disabled service collection at their home.
To request disabled service collection at no additional charge:
- Complete a Refuse Collection Application To Request Physically Disabled Service(PDF, 376KB) .
- Obtain a letter from your physician (or health care provider) certifying that you are unable to consistently move the refuse containers to the curbside set out location due to a physical disability. The physicians letter must include contact information for the physician (name, phone & address) and the physician's signature.
- Send the completed application and letter from your physician to the Solid Waste Division by email or mail (Solid Waste Division, Station 10, 405 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32602-0490).
For more information, please contact the Solid Waste Division at 352-334-2330 or by email.