Last reviewed November 14, 2026. General information, not legal or professional advice. Check the linked sources for the current rules.
Guide
The three county sites
Every load of household junk in Brevard ends up at one of a handful of places: a county landfill, a county transfer station, a scrap yard or a charity. Here's what each one takes, and what the county charges at the gate.
Brevard County Solid Waste runs the disposal sites. They aren't interchangeable. A load that's fine in Cocoa can be turned away in Titusville, so it pays to know which site takes what before you drive.
- Central Disposal Facility, Cocoa. A landfill plus a household hazardous waste center. It's the one that takes nearly everything from a house: household garbage, yard waste, white goods (large appliances), scrap metal, carpet, cardboard, concrete and whole tires.
- Sarno Road landfill and transfer station, Melbourne. Two operations on one site. The landfill takes white goods, yard waste, scrap metal, carpet, concrete and whole tires, but not household garbage. The transfer station takes household garbage and cardboard only.
- Titusville Transfer Station. Household garbage only. Its page lists white goods, yard waste, scrap metal and whole tires as prohibited.
What the county charges at the gate
Brevard funds its disposal system partly through an annual assessment on improved property. Resolution 25-080 sets the gate charges for loads that assessment doesn't cover, like yard waste a hauler brings in. These were the county's per-ton rates for fiscal year 2026, which started October 1, 2025:
Under the same resolution, the county raises these rates automatically every October 1, based on the consumer price index for garbage and trash collection. So the FY2027 numbers that took effect October 1, 2026 are a little higher. For the current figure on a specific load, check with Brevard County Solid Waste. The county also doesn't accept solid waste generated outside Brevard.
- Yard waste or land clearing debris by itself, brought by a hauler: the county rate was $49.38 per ton.
- Yard waste mixed with other trash, or any load that needs county staff to help unload or separate it: $50.62 per ton at the county gate.
- Discarded recyclables: the county rate was $24.70 per ton.
- Whole or shredded tires, which the county says can't be mixed with other waste: $190.68 per ton.
- Clean concrete, or loads of only cardboard, not mixed with anything else: $0.00 per ton at the county scale.
Metal goes to scrap
A lot of household junk is mostly steel: washers, dryers, stoves, bed frames, old grills, exercise machines. Private scrap yards buy metal by weight, and both county landfills list scrap metal and white goods as accepted.
Refrigerators, freezers and window air conditioners are a special case because of the refrigerant inside. Under EPA's disposal rules, the final person in the disposal chain, such as a scrap metal recycler or a landfill, is responsible for making sure the refrigerant is recovered before the appliance is disposed of. A scrap yard that takes a fridge with the refrigerant already removed has to keep a signed statement saying who removed it and when.
What charities will take
Furniture in good condition can often be donated. Goodwill Industries of Central Florida lists furniture in good condition and sleeper sofas as accepted. Its list of things it can't accept is just as useful:
If Goodwill turns something down, its donation page points people to Brevard County Solid Waste.
- Mattresses, box springs, headboards, bed pillows and bed frames
- Large appliances such as washers, dryers, refrigerators and stoves
- Infant car seats and cribs
- TVs and CRT monitors
- Paint, cleaning products, chemicals and other hazardous waste
- Building supplies such as lumber, cabinets and sinks
Mattresses
Mattresses are the item people most expect to recycle or donate, and in Brevard that's rarely possible. Charities like Goodwill don't take them. Some states run mattress recycling programs funded by a small charge on new mattresses, but the Mattress Recycling Council lists its programs as California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Oregon. Florida isn't on the list.
That leaves a county facility for most old mattresses. A metal bed frame can still go for scrap.
How we use all this
Before a load heads to the county, we pull out what doesn't need to go there. Furniture a charity will take goes to donation. Metal goes to scrap. Yard waste rides separately from household junk, since the county sorts them at the gate. What's left goes to the county site that takes it.
Anything on the hazardous list stays off the trailer. Our guide to what a junk hauler can't take covers those items and the county's drop-off program. To get a price on a load, send photos through the quote form.
