Junk removal in Melbourne

Melbourne, FL

Melbourne's bulk pickup has to be booked

Melbourne has a bulk pickup, and the county landfill is inside city limits on Sarno Road. Here's how both work, and where we fit in when they don't.

The City of Melbourne's trash service is run by Waste Management. The city defines bulk items as "discarded furniture and household junk that will not fit in your garbage cart," and they don't just get picked up because they're sitting at the curb. You call Waste Management or the city's ECO Division to schedule a bulk collection first (city solid waste page).

Yard waste works the same way once it outgrows the cans. Containers can't be bigger than 40 gallons or heavier than 50 pounds, branches get cut to four feet or less, and bags aren't accepted. A stacked pile that won't fit in cans needs its own request, because the city says Waste Management no longer picks up stacked yard waste without one. Debris left by landscapers or tree workers is theirs to haul, per the city.

When the city pickup is enough, and when it isn't

If you can get a recliner to the curb yourself and you're fine waiting for the collection date, book the city pickup. That's what it's for.

A hauler makes more sense when the stuff is still inside. Melbourne has a lot of stacked housing: the Census Bureau counts about 37 percent of the city's 41,000 or so homes in multi-unit buildings, and about 42 percent of occupied homes are rented (ACS 2024 1-year). Getting a sleeper sofa down a stairwell to the street is the hard part, and it's the part we do. We carry it out from the unit, the garage or the backyard and load it ourselves.

It also makes sense when there's a mix. The city's bulk program is for furniture and household junk. A garage with boxes, a treadmill, an old fridge and a pile of palm fronds is easier as one load. See garage cleanouts.

Sarno Road: the county facility in town

Brevard County's Sarno site is really two places. The Sarno landfill takes things like appliances, carpet, lumber, metal and yard waste, but not household garbage. The transfer station next to it takes household garbage and cardboard, and nothing like appliances or yard trash. Electronics go to the household hazardous waste center on the same site.

So a mixed load gets sorted before it goes anywhere. Furniture in good shape can go to a charity that will take it, metal can go to scrap, and the rest goes to the county. More on that in where junk goes in Brevard County.

Getting a price in Melbourne

Take a few photos of what needs to go and send them with the quote form. Tell us it's in Melbourne and where it's sitting: third-floor condo, garage, back porch. We'll send a price. Nothing is booked until you say yes.