Miami Beach vs Miami-Dade Commercial Recycling: Which Rule Applies to Your Business, and How to Set Up Single-Stream That Passes

The short answer, as of October 10, 2026: a business in Miami Beach answers to two recycling rules, and the City’s is the stricter one. Miami-Dade County Code Chapter 15 requires every commercial establishment in the county, inside cities and out, to recycle at least three materials from a County list. The City of Miami Beach goes further: its recycling ordinance says all commercial establishments and every multi-family residence with nine or more units “must implement a single-stream recycling program.” Meet the City’s standard and you normally clear the County’s three-material floor too; the reverse is not true.

Miami Beach vs Miami-Dade, side by side

The County side is explained in full, including the four modified options, in our Miami-Dade standard vs modified program guide.

Why a Miami Beach business answers to both

The County’s own application form says Chapter 15, Section 2 applies to commercial and multi-family establishments “in incorporated and unincorporated Miami-Dade County.” Miami Beach is an incorporated city, so the County rule follows you across the causeway. The City then adds its own ordinance on top. On its recycling page the City puts it bluntly: “Recycling is mandatory in Miami Beach,” and “all properties are required to have a single-stream recycling program in place.”

Two differences follow:

• You don’t pick three materials. Under the County standard program a restaurant could recycle just cardboard, glass and aluminum; in Miami Beach the expectation is one mixed container for all accepted recyclables.
• Your hauler choice is narrow. The City’s Sanitation Division says two licensed waste haulers are authorized to collect private and commercial waste in Miami Beach: Waste Management of Dade County (786-450-5699) and Waste Connection (305.638.3800). It also says recycling for commercial and private trash service “is provided by the building owner and/or association.” If you lease, your landlord’s hauler contract is where recycling lives, so ask the property manager before you call anyone.

What single-stream means at your property

The City’s Sanitation Division publishes the single-stream list for its recycling carts. Use it as your starting point, then confirm with your hauler, since a commercial contract can differ:

• Paper: office and copier paper, mail, newspapers, magazines, catalogs.
• Cardboard: packing boxes and corrugated cardboard, flattened.
• Plastic containers marked #1 to #7, narrow-neck bottles without caps.
• Aseptic cartons: juice and milk cartons.
• Glass food and beverage containers, and aluminum and steel cans.

The same page lists what stays out: plastic bags, Styrofoam, batteries, light bulbs, mirrors, paints and pesticides, medical waste and electronics.

Bags or loose? The liner question

This is where Miami Beach differs from advice that works elsewhere. In Broward and Palm Beach we suggest clear liners in recycling bins so the porter and the hauler can see what is inside. The City’s cart list says no plastic bags. So ask your hauler one question before you buy anything: “Do you accept bagged recyclables in the container, or must they go in loose?”

If the answer is “loose”, you still line the desk-side and breakroom bins. The difference is what happens at the container: staff tip the bag out and keep the liner instead of throwing the full bag in. The liner goes back in the bin until it tears or gets dirty. Clear is still the right color: it shows contamination before it reaches the container (see black vs clear vs white liners).

Worksheet: recycling liners per month. Fill in your own numbers:

1. Count recycling stations (desk bins, breakroom, back of house, guest floors).
2. Count how many times a week each is emptied.
3. Bagged into the container: stations × emptyings × 4.33 = liners a month.
4. Tipped loose: divide that number by how many emptyings a liner survives at your site. Count it for one week; don’t guess.

Example: 12 stations emptied 5 times a week is 12 × 5 × 4.33 ≈ 260 liners a month if bagged. If your hauler wants loose material and liners last about 4 emptyings, that drops to about 65. Size the liner to the can with our can liner sizing guide.

Apartments and condos with 4 to 8 units

The City’s ordinance starts at nine units, but the County’s starts at four. The County form says a multi-family establishment of four or more units must recycle all five listed materials: newspaper, glass, plastic (HDPE and PET), aluminum cans and tin cans. A small Miami Beach building below the City threshold is therefore still covered by the County. A single-stream service that takes all five covers both rules. Our property manager supply page lists what we deliver for multi-building portfolios.

The foam rule that comes with it

Miami Beach is also one of the few Florida cities where expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) is restricted for businesses. The City says that on September 2, 2015 it adopted Ordinance No. 2015-3962 “prohibiting the sale and use of expanded polystyrene” within the City, extending earlier bans at parks, beaches, sidewalk cafes and marinas. Most cities can’t do this now: Florida Statutes section 500.90 hands regulation of polystyrene products to the state, but it “does not apply to local ordinances or provisions thereof enacted before January 1, 2016.” Miami Beach’s ordinance predates that cutoff. If you serve food or run a breakroom in Miami Beach, stock paper or plastic cups, plates and bowls, not foam. Confirm edge cases with the City; its pages summarize the ordinance rather than reprint it.

Setting it up in a week

1. Ask who holds the hauler contract. Owners and associations usually do.
2. Get single-stream service added through the licensed hauler, and ask the loose-or-bagged question.
3. Submit the City’s Recycling Verification Form to confirm your program. Residents can use the same form to report properties that are not recycling.
4. Place stations where waste is made: receiving, breakroom, bar, printers.
5. Post a one-page list of what goes in, copied from your hauler’s accepted list, in English and Spanish.
6. Keep the paperwork: the hauler agreement and your verification form confirmation. They also cover you for the County.

What to stock

Per station: a 23-gallon recycling bin with cutout lid, clear can liners sized to it, and a 55-gallon container at the dock for cardboard overflow. For foam-free service, see disposables and kitchen. The rest is under trash liners and bags. We deliver across Miami and Miami Beach, and business accounts get case pricing.

FAQ

Is recycling mandatory for businesses in Miami Beach?
Yes. The City of Miami Beach says its recycling ordinance requires all commercial establishments, and multi-family buildings with nine or more units, to have a single-stream recycling program. Miami-Dade County’s three-material requirement also applies.

Does the Miami-Dade County recycling rule apply inside Miami Beach?
Yes. The County Code requires recycling programs at commercial and multi-family establishments in both incorporated and unincorporated Miami-Dade. A single-stream program that meets the City rule normally also meets the County minimum.

Can I put recyclables in plastic bags in Miami Beach?
The City’s single-stream list excludes plastic bags. Ask your hauler whether bagged recyclables are accepted in your container. If not, tip recyclables in loose and reuse the clear liner in the bin.

Who do I call about Miami Beach recycling?
For your service, the licensed hauler on your building’s contract. For the ordinance, the City’s Sustainability and Resilience Division at 305.673.7084. For the County requirement, Miami-Dade Solid Waste Management through 3-1-1.