Lee County Garbage Pickup Schedule: How to Find Your Collection Days

New residents often learn their trash day the hard way, by watching the neighbors’ carts go out. There is an easier route. Your Lee County garbage pickup schedule depends on one thing first: whether your home is in unincorporated Lee County, a franchise city, or a city that runs its own service. This guide explains who collects where, how to look up your days, and what the set-out rules are, with examples from the communities in our guides.

Who Sets Your Lee County Garbage Pickup Schedule

Lee County’s solid waste guide splits the county into two groups:

• County franchise areas. In unincorporated Lee County, Bonita Springs, Estero and Fort Myers Beach, the county arranges collection through franchise haulers, and your collection company is set by location.
• Cities that coordinate their own collection. In the City of Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Sanibel, the city manages trash service and sets the schedule.

So the first step is knowing your jurisdiction. A Fort Myers mailing address does not mean the City of Fort Myers. Of the 26 Fort Myers communities in our guides, nine are inside the city, 16 are in unincorporated Lee County and one is in the Village of Estero, and their trash service works differently.

How to Look Up Your Collection Days

For county franchise areas, Lee County’s solid waste page links to a “Find My Waste Pickup Days” lookup, collection schedule maps and a list of garbage companies by zip code. You can also call Lee County Solid Waste customer service at 239-533-8000. Its office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays.

For city service:

• Cape Coral asks residents to check their trash day online at CapeCoral.gov/TrashPickup. The city notes that Waste Pro adjusted some collection days in October 2025, so confirm your day even if you have lived there a while.
• City of Fort Myers residents should contact the city’s Solid Waste Division for their schedule and any bulk pickup.

Before move-in day, ask the seller or the association whether the garbage and recycling carts stay with the house, and who to call if they are missing or damaged. Getting that sorted early saves a week of overflowing bags in the garage.

If you live in a gated community, also ask the association. Many post the community’s pickup days and any rules about where carts can sit.

What Gets Collected and When

In the county franchise areas, Lee County’s curbside services page lists the basics:

• Garbage, recycling and yard waste are each collected once a week, with no limit on the amount set out under the weekly service.
• Bulk items, such as furniture and appliances, are picked up as needed.
• Up to two car tires a week can go to the curb; larger tires go to the county’s Buckingham facility.

Cape Coral collects garbage, recycling, yard waste and bulk waste on the same day, Monday through Friday. Small yard waste piles under 50 pounds should be bundled, tied, stacked or bagged within 3 feet of the curb or street edge, according to the city.

In the City of Fort Myers, the city’s own map layer pairs a trash and recycling day with a separate horticulture and bulk day for each area. Several city communities in our guides, including Colonial Country Club, Heritage Palms, Paseo and The Plantation, show trash and recycling on Tuesday with horticulture and bulk on Friday. Lindsford shows both on Thursday. We read those layers in August 2026, and routes can change.

What Goes in the Recycling Cart

Lee County’s recycling page lists what its program accepts:

• Paper, such as junk mail, newsprint, magazines and copy paper, but not shredded, waxed, metallic or soiled paper.
• Cardboard boxes, flattened, unless the box held a liquid. Pizza box bottoms are fine if they have no food residue.
• Aluminum and steel cans, with no need to remove labels or crush them.
• Plastic containers marked with the numbers 1 through 7 inside the recycling triangle. Lids can stay on or come off.
• Green, brown and clear glass bottles and jars.

Leave out plastic bags, foam containers, hardcover books and used paper towels or tissues. The county lists those items as not accepted in the curbside cart. Cape Coral and the City of Fort Myers run their own programs, so check their lists if you live inside either city.

Set-Out Times and Cart Rules

Timing matters more than many newcomers expect. Lee County’s curbside page says to have materials out by the morning set-out time, not to set trash out more than 24 hours early, and to bring empty containers in within 48 hours. Lee County asks residents to have carts at the curb by 5:30 a.m. on collection day (the county has used an earlier set-out time during summer months), so check the county’s Curbside Services page before your first pickup.

The county’s placement rules are specific:

• Place cans, carts or bags within six feet of the roadside.
• Turn carts so the arrow faces the street.
• Keep at least 3 feet between your cart and mailboxes or other obstacles.

Lee County has also shifted set-out times seasonally in recent years, with earlier pickups in the hotter months. Cape Coral’s Waste Pro summer pickup hours ended September 30, 2026, and the regular 6 a.m. start resumed October 1. Watch for notices each spring and fall.

First-time violations of the county’s rules may get a warning, while repeated violations can lead to fines. Many associations add their own rules about hiding carts from street view between pickups, so check your community’s guidelines too.

Examples From Our Community Guides

Each Lee County guide on our site lists the collection day from the county’s or city’s map layer. A few examples show how much days vary, even in one area:

Scroll table to compare columns

The county’s map layer also records which franchise company serves each route, so the same lookup that gives you a day tells you whom to call about a missed pickup. In our Bonita Springs guides, for instance, most communities show a single weekly day, while a few, such as Bonita Bay and Hawthorne, show two days because parts of the community fall on different routes.

Some larger communities span more than one route, so neighbors in different sections may have different days. Our guides list every day that applies, and the official lookup is the final word for a specific address. Browse our Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Estero guides for the day in each community.

Holidays, Storms and How You Pay

Holidays can shift collection. Lee County and the cities publish holiday schedules each year, and Cape Coral, for example, skips service on six major holidays and delays the rest of that week by one day when a holiday falls on a weekday.

After a hurricane, regular routes often pause while crews handle storm debris. The county’s solid waste page links to its hurricane and disaster debris information, and its “Solid Waste Insider” newsletter sends debris updates and schedule changes. Separate vegetative debris from construction debris, and keep piles away from mailboxes, hydrants and drains.

Residential collection is usually billed on your property tax bill, not by the hauler. The amount depends on your area and home type, so check the solid waste line on your own tax bill or ask the county for its current rates.

This is general information. Confirm your collection days and rules with Lee County Solid Waste or your city. Our resources page links the official offices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Rules and fees vary by community. Check your own governing documents and county sources before you rely on any article. Spot something out of date? Report a correction.