Pinellas County Solid Waste and Recycling

Pinellas County Solid Waste and Recycling facility manages the landfill, Waste-to-Energy facility and recycling programs. Pinellas County has one of the most advanced waste management systems in the Southeast United States.

• Recycling Programs: Identify, coordinate and promote opportunities for businesses and citizens to reduce waste by reducing, reusing, and recycling.
• Chemical and Electronic Recycling (HEC3): Collects household electronics and chemical waste for proper disposal at a permanent full time center, in mobile collections, and in our Swap Shop which offers free chemical products to citizens.
• Drop-off recycling: Manages all county drop-off recycling sites.
• Mulch Program: Creates mulch by recycling yard waste, which it offers free to citizens at several county and municipal parks.
• Artificial Reefs: Uses environmentally safe discarded construction and demolition waste to construct artificial reefs. These reefs develop marine habitats, create fishing and diving opportunities, and reduce beach erosion.
• Cutting Waste at Work: Provides free personalized assessment to help businesses create a recycling program or increase recycling efforts.
• Small Quantity Generator (SQG)Program: Inspects businesses to ensure that hazardous waste is being disposed of properly and educates businesses on proper hazardous waste management, documentation and disposal.
• Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Facility: Burns garbage to reduce the volume of landfilled waste by 90%.  The WTE facility simultaneously converts waste to energy to produce electricity for up to 35,000 households.

Landfill: Most incoming garbage is burned in the WTE facility, but the landfill is needed for waste that cannot be burned, waste that exceeds capacity at the WTE and ash from the WTE process.

• Hauler Licensing:  Requires haulers to obtain a license and comply with certain minimum service standards to use our disposal facility.
• Franchise Collection: Currently manages garbage collection for Lealman and can support other franchise districts.
• Disaster Debris Removal – A citizens guide for disaster debris removal for a safer, speedier and less costly clean-up.
• Other Services – The Solid Waste Division also manages a variety of other services such as: scale house services and accounting, environmental and regulatory compliance, management of a dedicated industrial water treatment facility, management of the closed Toy Town landfill, and other programs.