Trash & Recycling in Colonie, NY (2026)
7 verified trash & recycling rules for Colonie, New York, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Pickup Rules & Schedules
Once you set solid waste or recyclables out for collection in Colonie, only your licensed hauler or an authorized third party may take it; anyone else who picks it up commits a separate violation. Section 112-17 also keeps ownership with the generator until the hauler actually accepts the material.
Colonie Bars Unauthorized Pickup of Curbside Trash
Some RestrictionsColonie Code § 112-17(A), (B)
Solid waste or recyclables placed by a waste generator for pickup by a waste hauler shall remain the property of such generator until accepted by the waste hauler, at which time ownership of such item(s) shall be the solid waste hauler's. Solid waste or recyclables placed by a waste generator for pickup by an authorized third party other than a waste hauler shall become the property of such aut...
Bin Placement Rules
Colonie's property maintenance code bars storing any garbage, recycling or yard-waste container over 96 gallons in a front or side yard, except on weekly pickup day or where a site plan approval allows it. Containers must also stay flytight, rodent-tight and covered.
Colonie Restricts Oversized Trash Bins in Yards
Some RestrictionsColonie Code § 62-45M
Each person/owner of any building from which garbage, rubbish, mixed refuse, ashes or other wastes are collected shall provide refuse containers sufficient in number to hold all collectible wastes which may accumulate. Containers must be flytight, rodent-tight and watertight and must be kept covered at all times. No storage of any garbage, rubbish, waste, yard waste or recycling receptacle over...
Recycling Requirements
Colonie requires every resident to put recyclables in the Town's standardized recycling container rather than a regular trash can, and to keep cans, bottles, newspapers, and cardboard clean, dry, and separated by type. Section 112-16 spells out how solid waste and recyclables must be prepared before a hauler or the landfill will take them.
Colonie Requires a Standardized Recycling Container
Some RestrictionsColonie Code § 112-16(A) through (D)
All recyclables such as cans, bottles and other containers shall be clean of contents with all contaminants, such as lids, caps and tabs, removed. All recyclables, such as newspapers and cardboard, which are adversely affected by wet weather shall be kept dry to the extent reasonably possible. Different types of recyclables shall be separated from each other and from other types of solid waste....
Illegal Dumping
The Town of Colonie bans using any land as a dump, dumping ground, refuse disposal area, or landfill site unless it is licensed and authorized under federal, state, and local law. Section 112-2 makes it illegal to bury, deposit, or dispose of offal, garbage, trash, refuse, rubbish, or debris on unlicensed land, with escalating fines and permit penalties enforced by the Police Department, Building Department, and Department of Public Works.
Colonie Bans Unlicensed Dumps and Landfill Sites
Heavy RestrictionsColonie Code § 112-2(A), (B)
No lands, other than lands of a public dump or dumping ground heretofore or hereafter established by this Town or established by private individuals pursuant to federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations, shall be used as a dump, dumping ground, refuse disposal area or as a landfill site in said Town. The use of land, except as licensed and authorized by federal, state and local laws,...
Yard Waste Collection
Colonie requires yard waste to be set out either in a rigid container marked with a Town of Colonie recyclables sticker or in a compostable paper bag. Larger material like sticks and brush must be bundled under rules the Town Board promulgates separately, per § 112-16(G) of the Solid Waste chapter.
Colonie Yard Waste Must Go in Rigid Bins
Some RestrictionsColonie Code § 112-16(G)
Yard waste, as defined by the regulations promulgated hereunder, shall be placed in a rigid container appropriately marked with a Town of Colonie recyclables sticker or shall be placed in a compostable paper bag. Larger yard waste such as sticks and brush may be bundled as delineated in the regulations promulgated hereunder.
Dumpster Rules
A residential parcel in Colonie may host only one temporary dumpster at a time, and it cannot stay on the property longer than 30 days per calendar year unless an active building permit covers the work, under Town Code § 62-45M.
Colonie Caps Residential Dumpsters at 30 Days
Some RestrictionsColonie Code § 62-45M
Temporary residential dumpsters are permitted, but may not remain on a property for more than 30 days per calendar year unless an active building permit has been issued for the property, except where work associated with that permit has ceased for a period of 30 days. No more than one temporary residential dumpster is permitted on any residential parcel.
Recycling Rules
Colonie's Solid Waste chapter requires every resident, business, and other waste generator to separate recyclable materials from the rest of the trash before it is picked up or delivered for disposal. Section 112-15 covers waste headed to the landfill, the curb, or a dumpster, and licensed haulers who collect unseparated waste can be cited under Article III's penalty provisions.
Colonie Requires Source Separation of Recyclables
Some RestrictionsColonie Code § 112-15(A), (B)
Upon the effective date of this article, all solid waste which has been left for collection or which is delivered by the generator of such waste to a solid waste management facility shall be separated into recyclable, reusable or other components (herein after "recyclables"). "Recyclables," for the purposes of this article, shall be defined as any material accepted at the Town of Colonie materi...
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