Residential Collection Procedures

Garbage and recycling roll cart curbside collection procedures - click here
Container requirements flyer – click here for English and here for Spanish
Residential collection procedures brochure – click here  

Household garbage collection procedures
All household garbage must be free of liquids and placed in secure, durable plastic bags prior to placement in a county-issued garbage roll cart. Excess/overflow bags are not permitted outside of roll carts and will not be serviced on residents’ scheduled service day. For servicing, residents should submit a special collection request (prepaid fee applies) by clicking here, OR can obtain an additional 95-gallon garbage roll cart (an increase in annual sanitation assessment fees will apply). Household garbage must be placed at the curb before 7 a.m. on a resident’s scheduled collection day, and should not block mailboxes, driveways, sidewalks, drainage systems or roadways. Residents are not allowed to place items for collection at the curb prior to 7 p.m. on the day before their scheduled collection day. Containers must be returned to residents’ homes within 24 hours after collection.

Single-stream recycling collection procedures
Recyclable materials can be commingled and loosely placed inside a county-issued recycling roll cart. All cardboard boxes should be flattened before placing curbside. Large quantities of unflattened boxes will incur a special collection fee. Recycling roll carts must be placed curbside prior to 7 a.m. on a resident’s scheduled collection day, and should not block mailboxes, etc. Roll carts should not remain curbside for more than 24 hours after servicing. Click here (curbside recycling section) for more information on curbside recycling.

Yard trimmings collection procedures
All yard trimmings must be properly prepared for collection. Yard trimmings include grass clippings, leaves, twigs, branches, limbs, tree parts, shrubbery, vines, garden plants, etc., and other naturally occurring vegetative matter.  Grass clippings, leaves, twigs, shrubbery, vines, garden plants and small items must be placed in approved receptacles not exceeding 40 gallons. Approved receptacles include durable metal and plastic containers or durable biodegradable paper bags. Each container must have two durable handles. Each paper bag must be folded at the top to minimize rain deteriorating the paper bags.  Yard trimmings placed in plastic bags will not be collected. All approved receptacles must be placed at the curb without blocking mailboxes, utilities, driveways, sidewalks, drainage systems or roadways before 7 a.m. on the scheduled day of yard trimmings collection for your service area. Branches and limbs must be trimmed of twigs, vines and leaves, and cut to a maximum of four (4) feet in length, and stacked neatly at the curb. The removed twigs, vines, and leaves must be placed in an approved receptacle as outlined above. Trees must be cut as small as possible, with each piece not exceeding 25 pounds. Tree limbs that are cut by professional or hired contractors should not be left at the curb for collection by the Sanitation Division. 

Missed garbage, recycling or yard trimmings collection
If items placed at the curb are not serviced by the end of the business day on a resident’s collection day, contact (404) 294-2900. A service request will be created. While the designated day for servicing missed collections is Friday of the week the service request is created, every attempt will be made to service missed collections prior to Friday. Residents not adhering to approved collection procedures may not be serviced or may experience a delay in collection service, and will receive a door hanger (click to view) notification for noncompliance.