Mulch Pickup Program
Free mulch is available to 新澳门六合彩 residents at over 15 locations. Bring a pitchfork and take as much mulch as you need. For pickup truck or trailer loads, come prepared with a tarp or vehicle cover to keep your mulch load secured. This is required by law.
Mulch pickup locations
Find a pickup location by using this .
In order from north to south county:
- A.L. Anderson County Park
(727) 464-7500
Managed by 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste - John Chesnut Sr. County Park
(727) 464-7500
Managed by 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste - Cypress Forest Recreation Center
200 feet north of
(813) 749-1135
Managed by the City of Oldsmar - Lake Haven Recycling Center
(727) 298-3215
Managed by the City of Dunedin - Clearwater Solid Waste Facility
(727) 562-4920
Managed by the City of Clearwater - Starkey Road Drop-off Recycling Center
(727) 587-6760
Managed by the City of Largo - Walsingham County Park
(727) 464-7500
Managed by 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste - Waste Management Brush Site*
(727) 369-0690
*Free mulch is available to City of Pinellas Park residents with proof of residency. - Gulfport Neighborhood Center
(727) 893-1089
Managed by City of Gulfport - 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste Disposal Complex
(727) 464-7500
Managed by 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste. Note: Personal Protective Equipment is required at this pickup location - 新澳门六合彩 Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Center (HHW Center)
(727) 464-7500
Managed by 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste
City of St. Petersburg Brush Sites
The following sites are managed by the City of St. Petersburg. According to the , visitors will be asked to show proof of residency (driver鈥檚 license, etc.) at the entrance to each site. The City can be reached at (727) 893-7398 for more information.
What is mulch?
Mulch is material that is ground from “yard trash,” which consists of tree and shrub trimmings, grass clippings, leaves, palm fronds, trees and tree stumps, and clean wood.
How does mulch benefit the environment?
![Mulch grinder grinding yard waste into mulch](/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/utilities_Mulch_Hi-1.jpg)
Mulch is useful for making landscaping attractive, saving water by reducing runoff and conserving soil moisture.
Applying mulch to landscapes is one of the nine principles of . Click here for University of Florida’s IFAS Extension’s guidance on .
How You Can Help
新澳门六合彩’s vision is zero waste to landfill by 2050. Based on a 2022 Waste Composition Study, 12.5% of incoming garbage is yard trash and clean wood. That’s a significant amount of yard trash that could have been turned into usable mulch.
You can help by:
- Leaving grass clippings on the lawn. “Grasscycling” prevents more than 35,000 tons from being disposed each year, reducing the need for fertilizer and water and returning nutrients to the soil.
- Participating in a curbside yard trash collection program or drop off yard trash. In 新澳门六合彩, over 270,000 tons of yard trash is diverted from disposal to be ground into usable mulch every year. *Keep yard trash free of plastic bags and plant pots, twine/string, metal, food scraps and other foreign materials.*
- “Doing it yourself” by composting yard trash with kitchen food scraps at home.
- Visiting the Where Does It Go? Search Tool to find yard trash collection programs and locations. Search for keywords “yard trash” and “compost.”
Mulch Sanitization Process
Mulch pickup sites managed by 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste follow a sanitization process to reduce the potential for weed seeds, plant diseases, pathogens and insects.
The sanitization process is multi-step:
- Unbagged yard trash collected by municipalities, private haulers and residents is received at the County’s yard trash-to-mulch facility located at .
- Loads are inspected for foreign materials, like twine/string, glass, metal, and plastic, which are removed and placed in the garbage.
- Yard trash is ground into mulch using a tub grinder and formed into long “windrows” or stockpiles.
- The windrows heat up through a natural microbial process to a temperature of 131潞 Fahrenheit or greater. This temperature is maintained for at least 72 consecutive hours.
- The windrows are turned using equipment to expose the outside mulch to the inside temperature. The turning process is repeated three times.
The County’s yard trash-to-mulch facility follows the mulch sanitization process described on page 22 of (manual). The manual was created in May 1996 for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) by the Florida Organics Recyclers Association and the Florida Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management. It is still the accepted sanitization practice. You can access the manual via FDEP’s document storage database, Oculus, by following these instructions:
- Click on the hyperlink above, then click “Public Oculus Login.”
- For the Catalog, select 鈥淪olid Waste.鈥
- Select Search By 鈥淧rofile鈥 and Select the Profile 鈥淒WM Historical Repository.鈥
- For Document Title, type 鈥淩ecycling Yard Trash,鈥 then click Search.
- Click on the PDF icon to open the manual.
Additional Resources
- Where Does It Go? Search Tool
- Recycle Guide & Downloadable Signage
- Household Chemical Collection
- Collection: Garbage & Recycling
- Hours: Solid Waste Disposal Complex
- Disposal Fee Information
- Educational Resources: Garbage and Recycling
- Recycling FAQ
- Artificial Reef Program
- Mulch Pickup Program
- For Businesses: Garbage & Recycling Resources
- How Mixed Recycling Works In 新澳门六合彩
- Video Library: Garbage and Recycling
- Holiday and Gift-Giving Guide
- Pinellas Partners in Recycling
- Waste-to-Energy Facility
- Bridgeway Acres Landfill
- Solid Waste Master Plan
- Solid Waste Disposal Accounts
- Lealman Garbage and Recycling Collection
- Tampa Bay Recycles
- Why Recycling Is Important
- Discover Careers with 新澳门六合彩 Solid Waste
Questions?
Click the Live Chat button below, email recycle@pinellas.gov, or call (727) 464-7500.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2023.