How Franklin Handles Trash & Recycling: A Practical Guide

Franklin maintains 127 local ordinances across all categories, and 8 of those deal specifically with trash & recycling. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Franklin falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.

Recycling Requirements

Franklin defines recyclables narrowly: only director-approved commodities like cardboard, aluminum, tin, steel, and newspaper, with hazardous, infectious, industrial, and medical waste expressly excluded. Recycling areas must stay clean and sanitary, dumping recyclables into a drain or waterway is unlawful, and certain hazardous materials can never go in a recycling container.

Key details: Accepted materials: Cardboard, aluminum, tin, steel, newspaper, other director-approved items. Excluded materials: Hazardous, infectious, industrial, medical, sewage. Enforcing agency: Sanitation and Environmental Services Dept.. Dumping into drains: Unlawful, § 17-204(1). Penalty: Misdemeanor after 10-day cure notice.

Section 17-206 penalizes violations of the recycling chapter, or of any permit issued under it, the same way MSW violations are handled: written notice of the violation with up to ten days to correct it, service withheld until corrected, and a misdemeanor charge under the general penalty clause for continuing past that window. A violator also remains liable to the city for any expense, loss, or damage its personnel or equipment incur because of the violation.

Collection Schedule

Franklin charges every residential address a mandatory sanitation fee under Municipal Code § 17-110, even though actually using the pickup service is optional. The city issues one city-owned rollout container per address at signup, and homes that regularly put out more than 90 gallons a week must arrange other disposal or request (and pay for) a second cart.

Key details: Enforcing agency: Sanitation and Environmental Services Dept.. Fee status: Mandatory even if unused. Cart ownership: Remains city property. Second-cart trigger: Regularly over 90 gallons/week. New construction: Developer buys cart at permit issuance.

Franklin Municipal Code § 17-116 governs enforcement for the whole solid-waste chapter: the city serves written notice describing the violation and gives up to ten days to correct it, suspending service in the meantime. Anyone who continues the violation past that window is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable under the Code's general penalty clause, and remains liable to the city for any expense, loss, or damage its personnel or equipment incur because of the violation.

Bin Placement Rules

Franklin, Tennessee requires residents to set trash carts within about two feet of the curb, clear of obstructions, parked cars, sidewalks, and drainage ditches.

Key details: Distance from curb: Within about 2 ft. Clearance from obstacles: At least 3 ft. Clearance from parked cars: At least 5 ft. Sidewalks/streets/ditches: Prohibited without permission.

Containers placed on sidewalks, in streets, or in drainage ditches without permission are noncompliant; unsatisfactory containers can be confiscated by the department.

Bulk Item Disposal

Franklin collects non-containerized bulky items curbside for a per-load fee, plus separate limits on brush and limb size for pickup.

Key details: Fee basis: Per 20-cubic-yard truckload. Brush limb limit: 10 ft long, 18 in diameter. Heavy limb rule: 15+ in: cut to 6 ft, under 75 lb. Clearance required: 3 ft from mailboxes/utility boxes.

Non-containerized waste blocking the roadway, sidewalk, or drainage; oversized brush/limbs left curbside; MSW mixed into a bulky or brush pile.

Illegal Dumping

Franklin makes it unlawful to dump municipal solid waste into any stream, ditch, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, or other drain, to dispose of it anywhere except a site approved under Tennessee Department of Solid Waste Management guidelines, or to burn it anywhere in the city, public or private property alike.

Key details: Banned acts: Dumping into drains, unpermitted disposal, burning. Governing section: Franklin Municipal Code § 17-104. State cross-reference: TN Dept. of Solid Waste Management permits. Correction window: 10 days after written notice. Penalty class: Misdemeanor for continued violation.

Enforcement runs through § 17-116: the city first serves written notice describing the violation and gives up to ten days to correct it, during which any related collection service can be suspended. Anyone who continues an illegal-dumping or burning violation past that ten-day window is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable under the Code's general penalty clause, and remains liable to the city for any expense, loss, or damage city personnel or equipment incur because of the violation.

This is one of the stricter rules in Franklin's municipal code. If you are unsure whether your situation complies, it is worth checking with the city before proceeding.

Yard Waste Collection

Franklin will not shovel up loose leaves or clippings: yard waste has to go into biodegradable paper bags of no more than 33 gallons. Brush and limbs must be cut to 10 feet or 18 inches in diameter (thicker limbs to 6 feet and under 75 pounds), piled curbside three feet clear of obstacles, and never left under overhead power lines.

Key details: Bag limit: 33-gallon biodegradable paper bags. Brush length limit: 10 ft / 18 in diameter. Oversize limb rule: 6 ft, under 75 lbs, if 15in+ diameter. Curbside clearance: 3 feet from obstacles. Power-line exclusion: Not collected under overhead lines.

Enforcement runs through § 17-116, the chapter's general penalty section: the city serves written notice of the violation and allows up to ten days for correction, with service withheld until it is fixed. Continuing the violation past that ten-day window is a misdemeanor under the general penalty clause, and the violator is liable to the city for any expense, loss, or damage its personnel or equipment incur because of the noncompliant pile or debris.

Pickup Rules & Schedules

Franklin residents may not set out their rollout container earlier than 7:00 p.m. the night before collection and must pull it back in by 7:00 p.m. on collection day. Carts also have to sit within two feet of the curb, three feet from obstacles, and five feet from parked cars, never in the street or on a sidewalk without permission.

Key details: Earliest set-out: 7:00 p.m. day before collection. Latest set-out: 7:00 a.m. collection day. Removal deadline: 7:00 p.m. on collection day. Curb clearance: Within 2 ft of curb/pavement edge. Obstacle clearance: 3 ft from mailboxes/utility boxes.

Section 17-116 applies the same chapter-wide penalty to placement violations: written notice describing the problem with up to ten days to correct it, service withheld in the meantime. Anyone who keeps violating the placement or timing rules past that ten-day window commits a misdemeanor under the general penalty clause and owes the city for any expense, loss, or damage its personnel or equipment incur as a result.

Dumpster Rules

Franklin's Sanitation Department does not run a dumpster program: businesses needing six or more rollout containers a week must contract with a private vendor. Placing any dumpster or container on a public street, right-of-way, or public property citywide requires a right-of-way obstruction permit from the street department director, backed by a cash bond, and capped at 30 days.

Key details: Permit authority: City street department director. Max permit length: 30 days, renewable. Security required: Cash bond or certified check. City dumpster service: None for nonresidential accounts. Private-vendor trigger: 6+ rollout containers needed weekly.

Violating § 17-111(5) triggers the same chapter-wide penalty at § 17-116: written notice with up to ten days to correct, service or continued placement suspended in the interim, and a misdemeanor charge under the general penalty clause for anyone who continues past that window. The violator also owes the city for any expense, loss, or damage its personnel or equipment incur enforcing the section, on top of the five-day removal-at-owner's-expense process for an uncorrected obstruction permit violation.

This is one of the stricter rules in Franklin's municipal code. If you are unsure whether your situation complies, it is worth checking with the city before proceeding.

The Bottom Line

Franklin is tougher than many cities when it comes to trash & recycling. Out of the 8 rules covered here, 2 are rated strict. If you are a homeowner, renter, or business owner in Franklin, take the time to understand these requirements before they become a problem. Most violations come with fines, and some repeat violations can escalate.

All of the above reflects Franklin's municipal code as of our last review. If you need specifics on fines, exemptions, or filing requirements, the detailed ordinance pages linked above have the full breakdown.