How Mission Handles Trash & Recycling: A Practical Guide

Mission maintains 75 local ordinances across all categories, and 6 of those deal specifically with trash & recycling. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Mission falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.

Bulk Item Disposal

Mission requires residents to arrange their own removal of heavy bulky items like discarded auto bodies and oversized refuse the standard garbage truck can't haul, plus tree limbs, stumps and trunks too large to reduce for normal pickup.

Key details: Heavy bulky refuse: Owner disposes at own expense. Oversized brush/limbs/stumps: Owner or tree company removes. Paid brush/debris service: $4.00 per month per unit. Governing sections: Sec. 90-51 and Sec. 90-48. Enforcement: Each day's noncompliance is separate offense.

Leaving heavy bulky refuse, discarded auto bodies, or oversized brush out for standard curbside pickup is an offense; the city and its contractor won't collect items not prepared or placed as required, and each day's noncompliance is a separate violation.

Dumpster Rules

Mission requires trash dumpsters and refuse containers at multi-family and nonresidential properties to sit behind a six-foot solid masonry enclosure with opaque wood or metal doors, screened from public view.

Key details: Enclosure height: 6 feet, solid masonry minimum. Enclosure doors: Opaque wood or metal required. Applies to: Multi-family & nonresidential properties only. Roll-off debris permit: $21.32 per cubic yard. Hauler: City's exclusive contractor only.

An unscreened or undersized enclosure is a code violation subject to citation under the general penalty provision; using a hauler other than the city's exclusive contractor for roll-off service inside city limits also violates Sec. 90-59.

Illegal Dumping

Dumping garbage, trash, dead animals, or debris on streets, alleys, curbs, or private property anywhere in Mission is unlawful littering classified as illegal dumping, punishable by a fine of up to $4,000 per day.

Key details: Maximum fine: $4,000 per violation. Repeat violations: Each day is separate offense. Governing sections: Sec. 90-3 and 90-5. Legal classification: Public nuisance. Business duty: Must clean premises, remove litter.

Fine up to $4,000 per violation, with each day of continued dumping charged as a separate offense; enforced as a nuisance under Chapter 90.

Bin Placement Rules

Mission requires garbage containers to be kept at the alley for collection, or at a point the city designates if there's no alley, and residents can never block the alley with cans or refuse.

Key details: Placement: Alley preferred; city-designated spot if none. Prohibited: Blocking alley with can or refuse. Meter rule: No garbage piled on utility meters. Penalty: Up to $4,000 per day, per violation. Citation: Sec. 90-42, Mission Code of Ordinances.

Blocking an alley with your cart, piling garbage on a utility meter, or leaving containers improperly placed can draw fines up to $4,000, with each day of the violation a separate offense under Sec. 90-5.

Mission is more permissive than most cities when it comes to bin placement rules. That said, there are still limits.

Collection Schedule

Mission collects residential garbage and refuse twice a week on a schedule set by the city, through its exclusive contracted hauler: placing waste out for pickup is mandatory, not optional, under Chapter 90.

Key details: Residential pickup frequency: Twice weekly, city-set schedule. Governing section: Sec. 90-45, Ch. 90 Art. II. Authorized hauler: City's exclusive contracted franchise only. Container placement: Alley-side, or city-designated point. Noncompliance penalty: Separate offense each violating day.

Failing to prepare or place garbage/refuse for collection as required, or using an unauthorized hauler instead of the city's exclusive contractor, is a separate offense each day it continues (Sec. 90-43, 90-59).

Yard Waste Collection

Mission picks up bundled yard trimmings with regular trash service, but larger brush, stumps, and land-clearing debris are the property owner's responsibility or a paid add-on.

Key details: Bundle limit: 3 feet, 35 pounds. Monthly brush/debris service: $4.00. Land-clearing pickup: $200 per truckload. Oversized limbs/stumps: owner's responsibility. Max fine: $4,000 per day.

Improperly prepared brush or refuse won't be collected (Sec. 90-43), and violating chapter 90 carries a fine of up to $4,000.00, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense (Sec. 90-5).

The rules around yard waste collection in Mission lean permissive, but that does not mean anything goes.

The Bottom Line

Compared to many U.S. cities, Mission gives residents more room on trash & recycling. 2 of the 6 rules here are rated permissive. But permissive does not mean unregulated. There are still requirements, and the city does enforce them when violations are reported.

Keep in mind that Mission can amend these rules at any council meeting. For the most current version of any rule mentioned here, check the specific ordinance page, where we track updates as they happen.