Trash & Recycling in Grand Forks, ND (2026)
7 verified trash & recycling rules for Grand Forks, North Dakota, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Pickup Rules & Schedules
Grand Forks makes garbage and rubbish collection compulsory citywide and runs it through the Department of Sanitation, with private hauling barred except under a city council permit. City Code Section 13-0404 requires a covered garbage can within fifteen feet of the alley, and Section 13-0406 has the city collecting as often as necessary to protect public health.
Grand Forks Garbage Can and Pickup Rules
Some RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code §§ 13-0404, 13-0406
Each property owner or occupant shall furnish and keep, not more than fifteen (15) feet from the alley abutting the owner or occupant's premises, one (1) or more suitable garbage containers equipped with close fitting tops, of a capacity not less than twenty (20) nor more than thirty (30) gallons each, and placed on proper stands. ... In the case of buildings containing three (3) or more apartm...
Bin Placement Rules
In the City of Grand Forks, City Code § 13-0404 requires every property owner or occupant to keep at least one covered garbage container within fifteen feet of the abutting alley. Containers must hold twenty to thirty gallons, with an added container for every five occupants beyond five. Owners of buildings with three or more apartments must furnish the containers themselves.
Grand Forks Garbage Can Placement Rules
Some RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code § 13-0404
13-0404. - Garbage cans and covers required. Each property owner or occupant shall furnish and keep, not more than fifteen (15) feet from the alley abutting the owner or occupant's premises, one (1) or more suitable garbage containers equipped with close fitting tops, of a capacity not less than twenty (20) nor more than thirty (30) gallons each, and placed on proper stands. For each dwelling u...
Bulk Item Disposal
Grand Forks runs no curbside crew for large items. City Code § 13-0406.1 instead requires any private hauler who collects rubbish, construction refuse, or white goods such as refrigerators and washers to first get a permit from the city council, and § 13-0406(4) lets residents haul their own bulky waste to the landfill instead of using a hauler.
Grand Forks Bulk and Construction Refuse Rules
Significant RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code § 13-0406.1
13-0406.1. - Permit for private collection rubbish, construction refuse, and white goods. (1)Required. It shall be unlawful for any private collector or hauler of rubbish, construction refuse, and/or white goods to collect, handle, haul, or transport on any of the streets, alleys, public ways, or places of the city any such materials without first obtaining a permit from the city council and co...
Recycling Requirements
Grand Forks City Code § 13-0413 lets the solid waste superintendent, with city council consent, run a recycling and composting program and designate specific recycling and compost receptacles or dumpsters around the city. Section 13-0414 backs it: only the material listed as allowable on a receptacle or its posted sign may go in it, and putting in anything else draws a one hundred dollar penalty per violation.
Grand Forks Recycling Receptacle Requirements
Some RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code §§ 13-0413, 13-0414
13-0413. - Recycling programs authorized. ... (B)The solid waste superintendent shall authorized, with the consent of the city council, to place, set, and designate such recycling and compost receptacles or dumpsters within the city limits as may be deemed necessary or convenient. Only that material as designated shall be placed in such receptacles or dumpsters. ... 13-0414. - Deposits in recyc...
Illegal Dumping
Grand Forks City Code § 13-0504 bars dumping earth, debris, or waste along the Red River's bank or dike, or throwing it into the river itself. Section 13-0505 extends the ban to any street, alley, other public place, or private property where dumping creates a health hazard, nuisance, or unsightly condition, and § 13-0506 punishes either violation with up to five hundred dollars, treating each load or act of dumping as a separate offense.
Grand Forks Illegal Dumping Penalties
Significant RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code §§ 13-0504, 13-0505, 13-0506
13-0504. - Dumping prohibited in certain areas. No person, firm or corporation shall dump or place any earth, bricks, concrete, sod, sand, gravel, dirt, clay, wood, iron, steel, rocks, stone, refuse, garbage, rubbish or any materials along or on any river bank or dike of the Red River of the North. No person shall throw or deposit the same in the Red River of the North. ... 13-0505. - Health ha...
Collection Schedule
Grand Forks City Code § 13-0406 makes the city, not a private hauler, responsible for collecting all garbage and rubbish citywide as often as needed to protect public health. Section 13-0411 backs this up by barring any resident from refusing the city's disposal service, so collection fees keep accruing even if a household declines to put out its cans, unless the entire area receives no service at all.
Grand Forks Mandatory Garbage Collection Rules
Significant RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code §§ 13-0406, 13-0411
13-0406. - Same—Collection. (1)All garbage and rubbish from the entire City of Grand Forks shall be collected by the city as frequently as is necessary to maintain and preserve the health of the community, except that this article shall not require the collection of garbage and rubbish where the streets or alleys are in a temporary condition which makes it impossible to do so, and in case of th...
Recycling Rules
Grand Forks City Code § 13-0407 requires any private collector of recyclable materials, defined to include paper, glass, aluminum, plastic, white goods and tree limbs, to hold a permit from the city council before hauling those materials over city streets. The permit runs three years, the fee is set by council resolution, and the holder must sign a contract paying the city a percentage of gross revenue from selling the recyclables.
Grand Forks Private Recycling Collector Permit Rule
Significant RestrictionsGrand Forks City Code § 13-0407
13-0407. - Permit for private collection of recyclable materials. (1)Required. It shall be unlawful for any private collector of recyclable materials to collect, handle, haul, or transport on any of the streets, alleys, public ways or places of the city any such materials without first obtaining a permit from the city council and complying with all provisions of the Code relating thereto. ... (...