Southwest District Solid Waste

What is solid waste?

Solid waste is sludge unregulated under the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act; sludge from a wastewater treatment works, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility; garbage, rubbish, refuse, special waste, or other discarded material resulting from domestic, industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural or government operations. Materials NOT regulated as solid waste pursuant to this chapter are recovered materials, nuclear source or byproduct materials regulated under Chapter 404, Florida Statutes, or under the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended; suspended or dissolved materials in domestic sewage effluent or irrigation return flows, or other regulated point source discharges; regulated air emissions; and fluids or wastes associated with natural gas or crude oil exploration or production.

All waste that is not a listed Hazardous or Characteristic Hazardous Waste is a solid waste. Refer to the Hazardous Waste Program summary for specifics.

Other Definitions

Special waste means solid waste that can require special handling and management, including but not limited to white goods, waste tires, used oil, lead acid batteries, construction and demolition debris, ash residue, yard trash and biological wastes. Other special wastes identified through recent department policies include fluorescent light bulbs and mercury-containing devices.

"Recovered materials" means metal, paper, glass, plastic, textile or rubber materials that have known recycling potential, can be feasibly recycled, and have been diverted and source separated or have been removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use or reuse as raw materials, whether or not the materials require subsequent processing or separation from each other, but does not include materials destined for any use that constitutes disposal. Recovered materials as described above are not solid waste.

DEP does not regulate the pickup and transportation of common garbage. If you have problems, such as your trash was not picked up, contact the utility that provides that service. This might be a local government or a private contractor.

To learn more about your county’s solid waste division, click on the links below:

• Citrus County Solid Waste 352-527-7670
• Hernando County Solid Waste 352-754-4112
• Hardee County Solid Waste 863-773-5089
• Hillsborough County Solid Waste 813-272-5680
• Manatee County Solid Waste 941-748-5543
• Pasco County Solid Waste 727-857-2780
• Pinellas County Solid Waste 727-464-7500
• Polk County Solid Waste 863-284-4319