Last reviewed November 14, 2026. General information, not legal or professional advice. Check the linked sources for the current rules.
Guide
Why these items are off the trailer
Most household junk is fine to haul. A short list isn't: paint, chemicals, fuel, propane tanks, batteries, asbestos and medical sharps. The county landfills turn them away, so we do too. Here's where each one goes instead.
A junk load goes to a county landfill or transfer station, and those sites publish what they won't accept. The Central Disposal Facility landfill lists hazardous waste, liquid waste, propane tanks, pressurized cylinders, car and lithium batteries, and sharps as prohibited. Sarno Road and Titusville add asbestos to that list.
If a site won't accept it, a hauler has nowhere legal to take it. That's the whole reason for the list below.
The county's household hazardous waste drop-off
Brevard County runs three household hazardous waste collection centers: at the Central Disposal Facility in Cocoa, at the Sarno Road landfill in Melbourne, and at the Mockingbird Way facility in Titusville. County residents can drop off household items there for free. It's for household waste, not business waste, and the county may ask for proof of residency, like a driver's license, tax bill or utility bill.
The county's list of what it accepts includes:
- Paint, stains, thinners, sealers and solvents
- Gasoline, diesel, motor oil, antifreeze and oil filters
- Pool cleaning supplies, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers
- Aerosol cans, drain cleaner and adhesives
- Car and boat batteries, and rechargeable batteries
- Fluorescent bulbs and mercury thermometers or thermostats
- Household electronics, up to 10 large items a year
Rules for the drop-off
The county takes up to 25 gallons of liquid waste per household per year, in containers no bigger than five gallons. Keep products in their original labeled containers, don't mix chemicals, and bag anything that leaks. Tape over battery terminals. Pack it all in a sturdy box in the trunk, away from passengers.
Some things don't need the trip at all. The county says empty or fully dried paint cans can go in household trash with the lid off, and regular alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D) aren't hazardous and can go in the trash too. At the Cocoa and Sarno centers, a Drop and Swap shelf lets residents pick up usable paint, cleaners and auto fluids other people dropped off.
Propane tanks and fire extinguishers
Propane tanks surprise people, because the county's hazardous waste centers don't take them either. The county's page sends residents to local metal recyclers and says to call ahead and ask how they handle tanks. A fire extinguisher that's fully discharged can go in household trash. One that isn't empty goes back to a fire extinguisher company for recharging or disposal.
Asbestos
If you think something contains asbestos, leave it in place and don't break it up. The Sarno Road landfill and the Titusville Transfer Station both list asbestos as prohibited. The county's rate resolution treats asbestos as a special waste that needs approval before disposal, at $123.42 per ton for FY2026. That's work for an asbestos abatement company. We don't haul it.
Needles, lancets and medications
The county's sharps program page says putting sharps, including needles and lancets, in the trash or the sewer is prohibited by law. Brevard runs a free program for people who inject medication at home. You pick up an approved sharps container at a distribution site, fill it, seal it and bring it to a collection site. Coffee cans and detergent bottles don't count as approved containers. Old prescriptions go to a drug take-back site, never the toilet.
Refrigerators, and tires at the county
Two more items come up a lot. A refrigerator or freezer isn't hazardous waste, and we do haul them. It still needs care, because EPA rules make the last stop in the chain responsible for recovering the refrigerant. That's why a fridge never goes in with household trash.
Tires are a county item with their own rules. The Central Disposal Facility and the Sarno Road landfill accept whole tires, the Titusville Transfer Station doesn't, and the county charges $190.68 per ton for tires and says they can't be mixed with other waste. We don't haul tires.
