Everything you need to get rid of leftover paint responsibly in Winter Haven.
5 Environmental Loop S., Winter Haven, FL 33880
This is the only permanent hazardous waste drop-off on Polk County's pages. It is open just two mornings a week. Sharps, medicines and biohazard waste are not taken. The Solid Waste office next door is at 10 Environmental Loop S.; for paint, follow the signs to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
1751 Seventh St. NE, Winter Haven, FL 33881
PaintCare's listing gives the address as 1751 7th St. SE and spells the park Reuben; the county page says Seventh St. NE, 33881. Check the county page the week before. The City of Winter Haven's page says the county's collection day is the first Saturday in December.
Your state doesn’t have a PaintCare program, so stores here don’t take paint for free. These are the public drop-off programs PaintCare’s map lists, closest first. Most only serve their own residents and some charge a fee. Call before you go.
1751 7th St. SE, Winter Haven, FL 33881
5 Environmental Loop S., Winter Haven, FL 33880
300 N 5th St, Haines City, FL 33844
602 Evelyn Ave, Lakeland, FL 33801
1270 S Broadway, Bartow, FL 33830
From PaintCare’s drop-off map ↗, updated October 6, 2026. Hours and limits are PaintCare’s. Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Go on a Friday or Saturday morning to 5 Environmental Loop S. and follow the signs to the hazardous waste facility. It is free and the cans count toward your 20 gallons for the year.
Hold the paint for the county collection day on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026, at 1751 Seventh St. NE. If you can't wait, dry small amounts of latex at home and call city Solid Waste at 863-291-5756 before you put the dried cans out.
Your year-round option is still the Winter Haven facility. The county also brings collection days near you: Lakeland Solid Waste, 602 Evelyn Ave., on Feb. 6, 2027, and Haines City Public Works, 300 N. 5th St., on March 6, 2027.
The free drop-off is for homes only. Fill out the county's small business registration, list your waste, and book an appointment. Bring the paint to 5 Environmental Loop S. and pay by cash, check or card: $2.00 a gallon for latex and $4.34 a gallon for oil-based paint. You are charged for the full size of each container.
Take liquid paint to the Polk County Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 5 Environmental Loop S., on a Friday (8 a.m. to noon) or Saturday (7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.). It is free for Polk County residents, up to 20 gallons of paint a year. If you miss those hours, the county's next collection event is Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026, at the Rueben Williams Sports Complex on Seventh Street NE.
Paint in Winter Haven, Florida, goes to Polk County. The county's only year-round hazardous waste drop-off is right in town, at the North Central Landfill on Environmental Loop South. It is open two mornings a week, Friday and Saturday. The county limits paint to 20 gallons a year, and it is free for residents.
The hazardous waste facility opens Friday 8 a.m. to noon and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It is closed Monday through Thursday. Plan your trip around a weekend morning, and call 863-284-4319 if a holiday falls on a Friday.
Polk County caps paint at 20 gallons a year. A whole-house repaint can go over that. Dry out leftover latex at home and save the drop-off for oil-based paint, stain and thinner.
Polk County says latex paint can be dried with sand, cat litter or sawdust and left uncovered in the garbage. The City of Winter Haven, which picks up your trash, lists paint as hazardous waste that should never go in the trash. Never put liquid paint in your cart. If you want to put out dried latex, call city Solid Waste at 863-291-5756 first.
Winter Haven says the county holds its collection day on the first Saturday in December. In 2026 that is Dec. 5, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 1751 Seventh St. NE. Later events move to Davenport (Jan. 23, 2027), Lakeland (Feb. 6, 2027) and Haines City (March 6, 2027).
If you haul your own trash, Polk sends residents to the North Central Transfer Station, 3131 K-Ville Ave. in Auburndale. The Northeast Landfill pilot center in Haines City (4001 Bannon Island Rd.) lists household chemicals as not accepted. Neither is listed for paint, so take paint to the hazardous waste facility.
Florida has no PaintCare program, so paint stores don't take old paint back. In Polk County your choices are the hazardous waste facility, the county's traveling collection days, or drying out latex. Polk has one permanent drop-off for the whole county, so people from Lakeland, Bartow, Auburndale, Lake Wales, Haines City and Davenport use the same Winter Haven site. Usable paint can go to a neighbor, church or community group.
Keep paint in its original can with the label on, and keep lids tight. Pack cans upright in a sturdy box or bucket, not in plastic bags, and put them in the trunk or truck bed with some air flow. Don't mix products. Bring something with your Polk County address. To dry latex, take off the lid and stir in sand, cat litter or sawdust until it is solid.
Full preparation checklist →Only Friday, 8 a.m. to noon. It is also open Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It is closed Monday through Thursday and Sunday.
Up to 20 gallons a year, free for Polk County residents. PaintCare's listing for the county adds that no container can be bigger than 5 gallons.
Not liquid paint. The county allows dried latex in the garbage, but the city lists paint as hazardous waste that shouldn't go in the trash. Call 863-291-5756 if you plan to put out dried latex.
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Rueben Williams Sports Complex, 1751 Seventh St. NE, Winter Haven. Then Jan. 23, 2027 in Davenport.
Not for free. Businesses use the county's small business program: register, book a weekday appointment (not Wednesday) and pay by the gallon, for example $2.00 a gallon for latex. Call 863-284-4319.
Checked October 15, 2026: Polk County's household hazardous waste page for the facility hours, the 20-gallon yearly paint limit, the dried-latex rule, the 2026-27 event list and the small business fee table; the county landfill page for holiday closures, the North Central Transfer Station and the Haines City pilot center; the City of Winter Haven hazardous and e-waste page and solid waste page; Florida DEP; and PaintCare's locator data (Florida is not a program state). Unresolved: the Dec. 5 event address is 1751 Seventh St. NE on the county page but 7th St. SE on PaintCare's listing (both addresses exist; we use the county's NE address and ZIP 33881), and the end time differs (1 p.m. county, noon PaintCare). The county landfill holiday list does not say whether the hazardous waste facility closes on Christmas Day, which is a Friday in 2026. The city and county disagree on dried latex in the trash. PaintCare's data also listed a Bartow event on Oct. 10, 2026, which has passed and is not on the county page. We found no paint reuse shelf in Polk County. Peer review (Oct. 15, 2026): the county page gives the 20-gallon limit as "20 gallons a year" without saying per household, and says only "paint" (no latex/oil split), so the guide now says the same.
Checked October 15, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
