Miami-Dade commissioners ask staff to study waste from vacation rentals

Miami-Dade County commissioners directed county staff to study options for measuring waste produced by vacation rentals and other short-term rentals and to return with options for enforcement and technology at a committee meeting. The request arose during discussion of an agenda item asking the administration to evaluate how to identify and reduce extra waste associated with vacation rentals.

The item asks county departments to examine whether they can distinguish vacation rentals from primary residences in solid-waste data and to propose ways to measure or reduce any additional waste from those properties. The sponsor asked the administration to consider inspections, use of recycling data, cameras, pay-as-you-throw programs, and other tools and to report back with options.

Anisha Daniels, director of the county Department of Solid Waste, said the county’s new recycling contract (activated in April) requires trucks equipped with artificial intelligence that can identify the wrong items placed in recycling and help the county trace contamination back to specific customers. “Right now, with the recycling contract that we just put into place and was activated in April of this year, it allowed, or at least mandated, that the trucks have AI capacity,” Daniels said. “That AI capacity does have the ability to actually identify the wrong items that are being recycled, and we’re able to actually do, provide some information and that’s gonna help us to reduce contamination.”

Daniels said the county does not yet have the capacity to measure total trash tonnage at the level of individual residences. “We do not have that capacity to do that at this time,” she said, adding that solid-waste staff are working with the county’s Regulatory and Economic Resources department (RER) to obtain a registry of vacation rentals. Daniels said the department estimates the registry includes about 900 properties but that not all short-term rental operators are registered.

Commissioner Jon Steinberg indicated support for further study: “Yes. I will be supportive today because I do believe that we’re asking for exploration.” Other commissioners who spoke said they wanted options that would be realistic and feasible to implement and noted the possibility that different tools — education, enforcement, or technology — might be appropriate in different areas.

The board did not adopt a new ordinance or fee at the meeting. Instead the item instructs administration to return with options that could include tying recycling AI data to the RER registry, using inspections or code enforcement, piloting cameras at specific locations, exploring pay-as-you-throw systems, and changes to mini-dump operations. Daniels also noted some municipalities that operate their own trash collection have begun measuring differences between vacation and primary residences.

As part of routine business the committee approved the meeting agenda and moved forward with the administration-directed study; no separate vote on a rule or fee related to vacation rentals occurred. The administration is expected to report back with options and data to help commissioners weigh possible next steps.