Free Mulch Pickup Program

Free mulch is available to Pinellas County residents at the sites below - just bring a pitchfork and take as much as you need. For pickup truck or trailer loads, be sure to come prepared with a tarp or vehicle cover to keep your mulch load secured, as required by law.

Mulch Pickup Sites

1. A.L. Anderson County Park
   39699 U.S. 19 N, Tarpon Springs
   (727) 464-7500
   Managed by Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste
2. John Chesnut Sr. County Park
   2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor
   (727) 464-7500
   Managed by Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste
3. Cypress Forest Recreation Center
   200 feet north of 650 Pine Ave. N, Oldsmar
   (813) 749-1135
   Managed by the City of Oldsmar
4. Lake Haven Recycling Center
   810 Lake Haven Road, Dunedin
   (727) 298-3215
   Managed by the City of Dunedin
5. Clearwater Solid Waste Facility
   1701 N Hercules Ave., Clearwater
   (727) 562-4920
   Managed by the City of Clearwater
6. Starkey Road Drop-off Recycling Center
   1551 Starkey Road, Largo
   (727) 587-6760
   Managed by the City of Largo
7. Walsingham County Park
   12615 102nd Ave. N, Largo
   (727) 464-7500
   Managed by Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste
8. Bicentennial Park
   East of 565 Tom Stuart Causeway, Madeira Beach
   (727) 543-8154
   Managed by City of Madeira Beach
9. Waste Management Brush Site*
   12950 40th St. N, Pinellas Park
   (727) 369-0690
   *Free mulch is available to City of Pinellas Park residents with proof of residency.
10. Gulfport Neighborhood Center
    1617 49th St. S, Gulfport
    (727) 893-1089
    Managed by City of Gulfport
11. Solid Waste Disposal Facility
    3095 114th Ave. N, St. Petersburg
    (727) 464-7500
    Managed by Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste
12. Household Electronics and Chemical Collection Center (HEC3)
    2855 109th Ave. N, St. Petersburg
    (727) 464-7500
    Managed by Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste

 

City of St. Petersburg Brush Sites

13. 1000 62nd Ave. N, St. Petersburg
14. 7500 26th Ave. N, St. Petersburg
15. 2453 20th Ave. N, St. Petersburg
16. 2500 26th Ave. S, St. Petersburg
17. 4015 Dr. MLK Jr. St. S, St. Petersburg
    (727) 893-7398
    Managed by the City of St. Petersburg

Benefits of Mulch

Yard trash includes tree and shrub trimmings, grass clippings, leaves, palm fronds, trees and tree stumps, and clean wood. Over 270,000 tons of yard trash are turned into mulch each year in Pinellas County. Mulch is useful for making landscaping attractive, saving water by reducing runoff, and conserving soil moisture.

Sanitization Process

Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste's yard trash-to-mulch facility (located at 3095 114th Ave. N., St. Petersburg) uses the mulch sanitization process described on page 22 of Recycling Yard Trash: Best Management Practices Manual for Florida . This document was created by Florida Organics Recyclers Association and the Florida Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in May 1996. The above hyperlink will direct to FDEP's database, Oculus. Click on "Public Oculus Login", then click on the pdf icon to open or save the document.

 

The benefit of mulch sanitization is a reduction in the potential for weed seeds, plant diseases/ pathogens, and insects.

 

The mulch sanitization process is as follows for the Sites "Managed by Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste". To learn about the process(es) used at other Sites, use the contact numbers above.

• Un-bagged yard trash that is collected by municipalities, private haulers, and residents is received at the County's yard trash-to-mulch facility.
• Loads are inspected for foreign materials, like twine/string, glass, metal, and plastic. The materials are removed and placed in the garbage.
• Yard trash is ground into mulch using a tub grinder and formed into windrows (e.g., long stockpiles).
• The windrows heat up through a natural microbial process to a temperature of 131º Fahrenheit or greater; the temperature is maintained for at least 72 consecutive hours.
• The windrows are turned to expose the outside mulch to the inside temperature. The turning process is repeated three times.

Help Pinellas County reach its goal of Zero-Waste-to-Landfill by 2050

Collect your yard trash for mulching and keep grass clippings on the lawn; this keeps usable material out of the County's disposal facility and helps provide free mulch for residents.

• Keep your yard trash free of plastic bags and plant pots, twine/string, metal, food scraps and other foreign material.
• Participate in your local curbside or drop off yard trash collection program.
• Drop off yard trash to a public or private yard trash processor.
• Leave grass clippings on the lawn. This reduces the need for fertilizer and water and returns nutrients to the soil; "grasscycling" prevents more than 35,000 tons from being disposed each year in the County.
• "Do it yourself" by composting your yard trash and kitchen food scraps at home.

 

To find yard trash collection locations near you, or to learn more about home composting, visit the Where Does It Go? Search tool (search for "yard trash" and "compost").

 

To learn about Pinellas County's Zero-Waste-to-Landfill goal, view the Solid Waste Master Plan.

 

 

 

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