Port St. Lucie Recycling Guide

Port St. Lucie residents in the standard residential system use a green 64-gallon recycling cart. St. Lucie County says those carts are part of its single-stream program, so residents do not have to sort paper from containers.

If you need to confirm your pickup day, the city offers an address lookup map, phone support through the Office of Solid Waste, and in-person help at City Hall. Recycling is collected weekly, while bulk waste is collected monthly on the same day as your regular service.

One important current update is that the City's Convenient Drop-off Center at 1501 SW Cameo Boulevard permanently closed on January 5, 2026. Residents who want to self-haul recyclables, garbage, or yard waste now need to use the St. Lucie County Solid Waste Baling and Recycling Facility in Fort Pierce instead.

The simplest way to remember Port St. Lucie curbside recycling is paper, boxes, cans, bottles, tubs, jugs, jars, and glass bottles or jars.

Accepted materials include junk mail, newsprint, magazines, copy paper, phone books, aluminum cans, steel or tin cans, flattened cardboard that did not hold liquid, emptied and rinsed plastic bottles, tubs, jugs, and jars, plus empty and rinsed green, brown, and clear glass bottles and jars.

That glass rule is worth calling out because many Florida residents assume glass is no longer accepted everywhere. In Port St. Lucie's system, glass bottles and jars are still recyclable as long as they are empty and rinsed.

The city gives a clear list of common problem items that do not belong in the green cart. These include bagged recyclables, plastic bags and film, shredded or soiled paper, greasy pizza boxes, liquid cartons, Styrofoam, bubble wrap, ribbons, bows, glitter, cellophane, foil gift wrap, padded mailers, tinsel, ornaments, and string lights.

Why does the city care so much about bags and film? Because St. Lucie County says plastic bags, wrap, and stringy materials tangle sorting equipment, force shutdowns, and often end up landfilled after removal.

That is why recyclables must go into the cart loose.

The biggest local mistakes are bagging recyclables, treating every paper product like recycling, tossing in cartons and coated packaging, putting tanglers in the bin, and throwing hazardous items into curbside carts.

Port St. Lucie specifically says recyclables should be loose, while the county says bags and wrap damage sorting machinery. The city also excludes shredded paper, waxed paper, metallic paper, soiled paper, greasy pizza boxes, milk and juice cartons, biscuit dough tubes, plastic film, ribbons, bubble wrap, and similar tanglers.

Hazardous materials like motor oil, gasoline, pool chemicals, pesticides, solvents, and rechargeable batteries do not belong in recycling or trash carts. The county directs residents to special handling channels instead.

Plastic film is recyclable, but not through curbside pickup. St. Lucie County's W.R.A.P. program says residents can use local grocery drop-offs or county drop sites, including locations such as Morningside Branch Library, Paula A. Lewis Branch Library, and Oxbow Eco-Center in the Port St. Lucie area.

Electronics and accessories can be dropped off free of charge at the St. Lucie County Solid Waste Baling and Recycling Facility at 6120 Glades Cut-Off Road in Fort Pierce. The county lists computers, printers, cords, tablets, phones, TVs, monitors, video game systems, and holiday lights among accepted electronics.

Rechargeable batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and household hazardous waste also go through the county hazardous-waste program rather than curbside service. The county notes that single-use alkaline batteries can go in household garbage, but rechargeable batteries should be separated for proper handling.

Since the city's Cameo Boulevard drop-off center is closed, the main self-haul option is now the St. Lucie County Solid Waste Baling and Recycling Facility at 6120 Glades Cut-Off Road, Fort Pierce, Florida 34981.

City pages say Port St. Lucie residents can bring yard waste, household garbage, and recyclables there for a $10 minimum fee for up to 250 pounds, with a valid ID or driver's license as proof of residency. Hazardous materials and electronic waste are accepted at no charge.

For hazardous waste, electronics, batteries, and fluorescent bulbs, the county lists hours of Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with earlier cutoff times for hand unloaders.

Port St. Lucie says only Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas affect collection schedules. When one of those holidays falls on or before your service day, collection shifts forward by one day.

The city also provides useful holiday recycling guidance. Paper wrapping paper, tissue paper, greeting cards, and plain gift boxes can usually be recycled, but bows, glitter, ribbons, foil gift wrap, bubble mailers, bubble wrap, Styrofoam, ornaments, garland, tinsel, and string lights should stay out of the curbside cart.

Real Christmas trees can go out with weekly yard waste collection once decorations, stands, and lights are removed.

Before you roll the cart out, ask whether the item is paper, cardboard, a can, a plastic bottle or tub or jug or jar, or a glass bottle or jar. Then make sure it is empty, clean, dry, and loose rather than placed inside a bag.

When you set the cart at the curb, keep it at least three feet away from mailboxes, poles, parked carts, trees, and other obstacles, with the handle facing your house and the lid opening toward the street.

If the item is something tricky like a battery, plastic film, electronics, bulbs, paint, or chemicals, it probably belongs at a special drop-off rather than in curbside service.

The best Port St. Lucie recycling habit is not recycling more things blindly. It is recycling the right things consistently. In this city, that means keeping the green cart limited to clean paper, cardboard, cans, plastic containers, and glass bottles and jars, while redirecting film plastic, electronics, batteries, bulbs, and hazardous materials to the proper county channels.

With the city's former drop-off center now closed, knowing the county options matters more than ever. For oddball items, residents can use St. Lucie County's recycling lookup tool or call the City of Port St. Lucie Office of Solid Waste at 772-871-1775 and press 5.