Using Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) services while staying at home

The coronavirus (COVID-19) situation means many Miami-Dade residents are not going to work or school and are staying at home instead. With so many residents’ routines being disrupted, the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) offers the following friendly tips concerning its services.

• Residents should place their waste and recycling carts at the curbside no later than 7 a.m. on their regular days of service. Carts that are not placed at the curb by that time may not be serviced.
• For the safety of DSWM employees and others, residents should place used personal protective equipment such as disposable gloves, masks and wipes inside plastic bags and then place the bags in the green waste cart for proper disposal. Wipes, masks and gloves should not be placed in blue recycling carts. Dropping gloves, masks or wipes on the ground is considered littering, which can subject an offender to a fine of $260.
• More residents are shopping from home. Clean, corrugated cardboard shipping boxes can be broken down and placed in the blue recycling cart. On the other hand, packing peanuts, air bags or air pillows used for shipping, and polystyrene foam packing materials are not recyclable in Miami-Dade’s recycling program and should go in the green waste cart.
• With more residents ordering takeout and delivery food from restaurants, customers are reminded that cardboard or paper takeout food containers (including pizza boxes); plastic “clamshell” containers and most other plastic food containers; aluminum meal containers; drinking straws; paper cups and plastic lids; and plastic eating utensils should all go in the green waste cart. None of these items are recyclable in Miami-Dade’s recycling program and do not belong in the blue recycling cart.

Following these tips will help Miami-Dade’s waste and recycling services operate smoothly and help keep both DSWM staff and County residents safe.

For more information about the DSWM visit miamidade.gov/solidwaste or call 311. For more information about Miami-Dade’s curbside recycling service visit miamidade.gov/recycling or call 311.