Palm Beach County Garbage Pickup Changes: October 2026 Checklist for Your Empty Estate
Prepare your empty Palm Beach County estate for October 2026 SWA pickup changes with an address-specific calendar, bin handoff and landscaper removal plan.
If your Palm Beach County estate is empty this October, an updated pickup calendar is only half the handoff. Someone still needs to place the correct bins, check what was collected and return them to storage. Your landscaper’s debris pile needs its own removal decision. Use this recommended owner protocol to give those responsibilities one address-specific record.
By Black Tie White Glove · October 3, 2026
Confirm the October 1 changes apply to your address
In unincorporated Palm Beach County, collection changes began October 1, 2026. SWA arranges curbside pickup through contracted haulers across five service areas; it does not operate collection trucks. Properties inside a city, town or village receive collection through that municipality. Source: SWA Collection Contract.
Start with your property’s actual collection jurisdiction. Jupiter Farms and Jonathan’s Landing, for example, are outside the incorporated Town of Jupiter, according to the Town of Jupiter’s residency guidance.
Confirm your precise address before reusing September’s instructions. If your municipality arranges collection, use its calendar and contact route.
Save your current calendar, service area and hauler
In unincorporated Palm Beach County, SWA schedules curbside collection between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Put waste at the curb by 6 a.m. on its assigned day. Garbage pickup occurs twice weekly; recycling, yard waste and bulk pickup each occur once weekly. Source: SWA Pickup Schedule.
Open SWA’s schedule page and follow its My Service Collection Days link for your full street address. Save a dated screenshot or PDF alongside the current service-area map. Record each waste stream individually, even when collection days coincide.
Your address responsibility card
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Property and verification | Full street address; collection jurisdiction; calendar-check date; saved-calendar location. |
| Service area and hauler | Service Area 1–5; assigned hauler confirmed against SWA’s current information. |
| Separate collection days | Garbage day 1: ___; garbage day 2: ___; recycling: ___; yard waste: ___; bulk: ___. |
| People responsible | Bin placement: ___; collection check: ___; retrieval: ___; backup: ___; contact details. |
| Locations and deadlines | Confirmed curb position; placement by 6 a.m.; agreed retrieval deadline; storage location; access instructions. |
| Landscape-debris arrangements | Landscaper contact; weekly allowance; removal included in quote?; removal date; approval contact for extra charges. |
| Dated completion checks | Waste stream; scheduled date; placement time/photo; collection result; retrieval time/photo; open issue; next action. |
As of October 2026, SWA’s contract awards name Coastal Waste & Recycling for Areas 1 and 3, Goode Companies of Florida for Areas 2 and 5, and FCC for Area 4. Match the hauler to your confirmed service area.
Share one current copy with everyone assigned a task. Designate one person to update it so a calendar change reaches the landscaper, bin handler and person checking completion together.
Assign placement by 6 a.m. and post-collection retrieval
Give placement and retrieval explicit owners, even if one person handles both. Ask your backup to acknowledge the assignment. A visit after 6 a.m. cannot, by itself, confirm on-time placement.
If your care plan includes one weekly visit, reconcile that cadence with two weekly garbage days before assigning bin handling.
Agree where containers go, how the handler enters and when empty containers return. Record a time and photograph at placement, then separate collection and retrieval checks. Treat placed, collected and retrieved as different events: a curbside photograph confirms placement, but leaves collection unverified.
Confirm any requested bin handling within your agreed estate home-watch scope, including the timing and frequency needed.
Give your landscaper the allowance and removal instructions
From October 1, 2026, weekly yard-waste limits in unincorporated Palm Beach County are six cubic yards in Service Areas 1, 2, 4 and 5, and twelve in Area 3. Bulk collection remains limited to three items weekly. Collection concerns: SWA Customer Information Services, 561-697-2700. Sources: SWA Services, SWA Collection.
Send your landscaper the card before the next visit. Ask whether the quote includes debris removal, who will remove any excess and the completion date. For larger pruning work, arrange haul-away in advance.
If trimming occurs after that week’s yard-waste day, agree whether material will be held for the next eligible pickup or removed by the landscaper. Put that decision on the card.
Under SWA’s pickup guidelines, branches must be no more than six feet long and weigh no more than 50 pounds each; palm fronds may be any length. Keep piles clear of roadways, sidewalks, mailboxes, hydrants and storm drains.
Request an after-work photograph showing remaining material or the cleared location. Vendor coordination and maintenance follow-up can support this handoff when included in your care plan.
Check after 5 p.m. and report missed collection
Make a collection check after SWA’s 5 p.m. service window. Inspect each scheduled waste stream separately: an emptied garbage cart leaves recycling and vegetation collection unverified.
If material remains, check the saved calendar, placement record and any tag or notice. For unincorporated collection problems, call SWA Customer Information Services at 561-697-2700 or use SWA’s collection-service contact form. Give the address, affected stream, scheduled day and observations. Record the report date, any reference number and instructions received.
Keep the issue open until follow-up establishes its outcome. Set the next check from SWA’s instructions. Agree separately whether remaining containers stay out or return to storage.
Close two collection cycles with dated confirmation
Review October 1–7 and October 8–14 as two seven-day collection cycles covering every scheduled waste stream. Two garbage pickups alone leave the weekly services unchecked.
Use actual records. Mark earlier, unobserved events not verified. For a stream with nothing presented, record no material set out; this does not establish a successful pickup. Log collection and retrieval separately whenever material was presented.
On October 15, review the transition record, give unresolved reports an assigned next action and update changed calendar or handler instructions. Continue dated checks under your ongoing care plan. Reopen the card whenever SWA changes its address lookup, service-area assignments or collection guidelines.
Recheck before Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2026. SWA provides no curbside collection that day; affected items are collected on their next scheduled service day, according to SWA’s holiday schedule. Update landscaper and bin-handler instructions together.
As of October 2026, Black Tie White Glove’s packages and memberships offer options for scheduled visual checks, owner updates and vendor coordination. Request a private consultation with your saved calendar and the responsibilities you want assigned. Confirm bin placement, retrieval and follow-up within the agreed service scope.