Trash & Recycling in Amherst, NY (2026)
9 verified trash & recycling rules for Amherst, New York, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Bin Placement Rules
Amherst caps how early and late totes and bins may sit at the curb: nothing may go out before noon the day before collection, everything must be at the curb by 7:00 a.m. on collection day, and residents must pull empty containers back off the right-of-way by 7:00 p.m. that same day.
Amherst Curbside Container Set-Out and Removal Times
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-6A to C
All waste to be collected by the Town of Amherst or its designated agent shall be placed for collection by 7:00 a.m. on the designated collection day. The Town of Amherst hereby assumes no responsibility to collect waste that is placed for collection after 7:00 a.m. on the designated collection day. No solid waste shall be placed within the public right-of-way earlier than 12:00 noon of the day...
Bulk Item Disposal
Amherst limits residents to eight bulk items at the curb per collection cycle beyond regular garbage totes. Put out more than eight, or set them out too early, and the Town issues a $250 move-out citation. Brush, appliances and construction debris follow separate bundling and weight rules under the same waste chapter.
Amherst Caps Curbside Bulk Item Pickup at Eight
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-6(D)
Move Out, Clean Up and Bulk Garbage Disposal: Residents and property owners are only allowed to place eight (8) items in addition to their garbage totes at the curb for pick up. If there are more than eight (8) items, and/or such items are placed at the curb prior to 12:00 noon on the day before the scheduled collection, property owners will be assessed a move out fee of Two Hundred and Fifty D...
Recycling Requirements
Amherst residents must source-separate recyclables and prepare them exactly as Chapter 169 specifies before setting them at the curb: newspapers bagged or binned, cardboard flattened and tied, and cans, glass and plastic containers rinsed with caps removed. Only listed recyclable material may go in a recycling container; mixing in other waste violates the Town's Waste Management Law.
Amherst Curbside Recyclable Material Preparation Rules
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-5B
Recyclable material shall be placed in recycling containers as follows: (a) Newspapers shall be placed in a recycling container or placed in paper bags. (b) Corrugated cardboard, including boxes, shall be disassembled, flattened, bundled and tied. (c) Cans, glass containers and plastic containers shall be rinsed of original contents. Caps and rings shall be removed from glass containers. No mat...
Holiday Pickup Schedule
Amherst lifts its normal cut-and-bundle rule for Christmas trees for a five-and-a-half week window: holiday trees can go straight to the curb through December and the first fifteen days of January. Outside that window, the same trees would have to be cut to four feet and tied like any other brush.
Amherst Waives Bundling for Holiday Tree Pickup
Light RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-16(C)(1)
Holiday trees may be placed at the curbline or pavement line for collection during December and the first 15 days of January without being cut and bundled as otherwise herein required.
Illegal Dumping
Amherst prohibits dumping garbage, debris or recyclables anywhere in the public right-of-way or on any privately owned land in the Town outside Williamsville. Dumping fill without the landowner's written consent, or dumping into a waterway or Town drainage system, is a separate violation with its own graduated fine schedule.
Amherst Bans Dumping on Streets and Private Land
Significant RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-11(A)-(B)
No person shall dump, drop, deposit, abandon or otherwise dispose of any garbage, refuse, rubbish, debris, recyclable material or other waste in or on any public right-of-way, road, street, highway or alley in the Town of Amherst, outside the Village of Williamsville, unless contained and prepared as specified in this chapter. No person shall dump, drop, deposit, abandon or otherwise dispose of...
Yard Waste Collection
Amherst yard waste goes out the same day as regular garbage, but only in solid-bottom containers or paper yard waste bags; plastic bags are never allowed. Brush and tree parts from work you did yourself may join the yard waste if bundled no longer than 4 feet, no wider than 24 inches, and under 60 pounds.
Amherst Yard Waste and Brush Bundling Rules
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-5C
Yard waste, brush and tree parts. (1) Yard waste shall be placed out for collection on the same day as normal garbage in the following manner: All yard waste will be placed in solid-bottom containers or in paper yard waste bags. No yard waste will be placed in any plastic bag for pickup. (2) Brush and tree parts which result from work performed by the owner or occupant of the residence may be p...
Dumpster Rules
Amherst requires dumpsters and other refuse containers in multifamily and nonresidential districts to be screened on all sides from view and set back five to ten feet from property lines. Gates on dumpster enclosures must stay closed except while loading or servicing them.
Amherst Dumpster Screening and Setback Rules
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 7-2-4(D)
D. Dumpsters and Other Refuse Containers. The following standards shall apply to dumpsters and other refuse collection areas in the R-4, MFR-4A, MFR-5, MFR-6, MFR-7, MHR-8 and nonresidential districts. ... (2) Dumpster containers, other refuse containers, and all refuse shall be visually screened on all sides from adjacent properties and private or public rights of way with an opaque material, ...
Collection Schedule
The Town of Amherst's Office of Refuse Control sets the collection days and times for every street in the garbage and refuse district under § 169-6, and only premises paying the garbage district fee may place waste at the curb on those designated days. Collection is mandatory, fee-based municipal service, not an opt-in pickup.
Amherst Residential Waste Collection Schedule Rules
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-6
The Town of Amherst Refuse Control Office shall designate the days and times for the removal of all waste from the public roads, streets, highways and alleys in the Town of Amherst, outside the corporate limits of the Village of Williamsville. On designated days, it shall be lawful for any person to place within the public right-of-way abutting his or her premises waste prepared in accordance w...
Recycling Rules
Once an Amherst resident sets recyclable material at the curb, it legally becomes property of the Town of Amherst, and § 169-9 makes it a separate violation for anyone other than the Town's own hauler to collect, pick up or remove it, a rule aimed at scavengers stripping recycling bins for scrap value.
Amherst Recyclables Become Town Property Once Set Out
Some RestrictionsAmherst Code § 169-9
Any time a resident places any material within a public right-of-way for collection by the Town of Amherst, that recyclable material shall become the property of the Town of Amherst. No person, unless acting under authority of the Town of Amherst or its authorized agent, shall collect, pick up or remove or cause to be collected, picked up or removed any recyclable material so placed for collect...
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