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Solid Waste disposal fees to increase in 2025

The Solid Waste Disposal Complex in St. Petersburg.

What are the new fees?

Pinellas County Solid Waste’s disposal fee for municipal solid waste and yard waste will increase by 8% on Oct. 1, 2025, from $54.50 to $58.86 per ton.

In addition, three other fee changes will take effect on Oct. 1:

  • The surcharge fee for out-of-county municipal solid waste and yard waste will increase from $54.50 to $58.86 per ton, which is in addition to the regular per-ton disposal fee of $58.86.
  • The tire fee will increase from $150.00 to $180.00 per ton (for loads containing five or more waste tires; reweigh is required).
  • Radio frequency (RFID) window sticker cost will increase from $18.00 to $20.00, and the transponder will increase from $35.00 to $40.00.

The fees for cars, pickup trucks and vans, special handling service, contractor surcharge, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and Christmas trees remain the same.

Why the increase?

For 40 years, Pinellas County Solid Waste had an agreement to sell electricity generated by the Waste-to-Energy facility to Duke Energy. That agreement was very favorable to the County because it also included a supplemental capacity payment in addition to energy payments made by Duke to the County. The agreement ended as planned on Dec. 31, 2024. The County understood the end of this agreement would mean significantly less revenue as current Duke Energy agreements are less attractive due to energy market conditions. In preparation, Solid Waste has reduced operating costs to maximize its budget. Today, Solid Waste brokers and sells electricity on the open market to other utility companies. But there’s still a financial gap in the budget due to the loss of that supplemental capacity payment. The financial strategy is for the department to use reserve funds to bridge the gap. The strategy will remain in place until revenues from steady increases in the disposal fee offset budgeted operating and capital expenses. For these reasons, this modest increase was included in the 2026 budget.

What is the Waste-to-Energy facility?

Aerial image of Solid Waste's Waste-to-Energy facility.
An aerial image of the Waste-to-Energy facility at the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex.

The Waste-to-Energy facility processes an average of 2,800 tons of garbage per day while generating 75 megawatt-hours of renewable energy. In 2024, the facility processed over 1.5 billion pounds of garbage, reducing its volume by 90% and saving space in the county’s one and only landfill. It also generated enough electricity to power 45,000 single-family homes per day while recovering and recycling enough metal to create about 14,500 cars.

For more information about the department, visit the Solid Waste department webpage at Pinellas.gov/solidwaste.

Questions?

Reach out to us by emailing recycle@pinellas.gov or calling (727) 464-7500.