Trash & Recycling in San Antonio, TX (2026)
10 verified trash & recycling rules for San Antonio, Texas, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Pickup Rules & Schedules
San Antonio collects garbage weekly, with recycling and organics on separate days. Use the city's My Collection Day tool to find your days. When a holiday falls on a weekday, that day and the rest of the week shift one day later.
San Antonio Trash Pickup Schedule & Rules
Light RestrictionsTex. Health & Safety Code § 365.017
(a) The commissioners court of a county may adopt regulations to control the disposal of litter and the removal of illegally dumped litter from private property in unincorporated areas of that county. The commissioners court may not adopt regulations under this section concerning the disposal of recyclable materials as defined in Chapter 361 of the Health and Safety Code.(b) Prior to the adopti...
Bin Placement Rules
San Antonio's solid waste management department sets exact rules for where wheeled carts go and when: clear of sidewalks, mailboxes, and parked cars by three feet, out no earlier than 6:00 p.m. the night before pickup, and removed from the curb by 10:00 p.m. on collection day.
San Antonio Garbage Cart Placement and Set-Out Rules
Some RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-10(a)(4), (b)
Containers shall not block sidewalks or be placed within three (3) feet of a mailbox, parked car, or other fixed object and shall be clear of low hanging limbs and utility lines. Containers shall not be placed within three (3) feet of other collection containers. ... It shall be the duty of the owner, manager, tenant or occupant of any dwelling, building or premises to place all containers at t...
Bulk Item Disposal
San Antonio provides curbside bulky item collection for single-family residents through the Solid Waste Management Department. Items not accepted include brush, construction debris, hazardous materials, mirrors/glass, vehicle parts, and electronics. Placing prohibited items in bulky piles is a violation of Chapter 14 with fines up to $2,000/day plus collection and disposal fees. The $3.00 monthly environmental fee provides access to drop-off centers for additional disposal.
San Antonio Bulk Item Disposal & Pickup
Light RestrictionsTex. Health & Safety Code Sec. 365.012 (Illegal Dumping; Criminal Penalties)
Sec. 365.012. ILLEGAL DUMPING; DISCARDING LIGHTED MATERIALS; CRIMINAL PENALTIES. (a) A person commits an offense if the person disposes or allows or permits the disposal of litter or other solid waste at a place that is not an approved solid waste site, including a place on or within 300 feet of a public highway, on a right-of-way, on other public or private property, or into inland or coast...
Recycling Requirements
San Antonio issues every serviced household a blue cart for weekly recycling under Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-12. Only city-designated materials go in loose, never bagged, and the department can skip a cart on inspection if it's contaminated. Repeated contamination gets a resident pulled from the program and billed for a second garbage cart for at least six months.
San Antonio Curbside Recycling Program Rules
Some RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-12
(a)Acceptable materials.(1)Residents are provided a blue recycling container in which to place specified items defined as recyclable materials. Residents participating in the recycling program receive once-per-week collection of recyclable materials. Specific collection days are designated by the director each week.(2)Acceptable recyclable materials shall be designated by the city, and include:...
Mandatory Organics Recycling
San Antonio provides a green cart for yard trimmings and food scraps under Sec. 14-17, but the program is not mandatory: a resident can decline it entirely and simply keep once-a-week refuse pickup, or lose the cart for repeated contamination.
San Antonio Organics Cart Collection Is Opt-In
Light RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-17(a), (h)
(a)Acceptable materials. Residents are provided a green container in which to place specific items defined as organic materials. Acceptable green container materials shall be designated by the city and include the following:(1)Leaves;(2)Tree trimmings (no longer than height of cart);(3)Yard trimmings;(4)Brush;(5)Food scraps;(6)Food-soiled paper and cardboard;(7)Other organic materials may be ad...
Illegal Dumping
Dumping trash, debris, junk, or garbage on any San Antonio street, waterway, drain, or public or private lot is unlawful and a declared public nuisance under Municipal Code section 14-47, carrying municipal-court fines of $100 to $2,000 per day.
San Antonio Illegal Dumping: Fines to $2,000 Under SAMC 14-47
Some RestrictionsSan Antonio Municipal Code § 14-47(b) (penalty § 14-45(a))
(b) It shall be unlawful and declared a nuisance for any person... to cast, throw, drop, place, sweep, deposit, accumulate, or spill refuse, rubbish, trash, debris, filth, carrion, junk, garbage, impure or unwholesome matter of any kind, or other objectionable or unsightly matter of whatever kind in or upon any street, sidewalk, park, canal, stream, drain, sewer receiving basin, or any other pu...
Yard Waste Collection
San Antonio picks up brush only twice a year on a fixed, evenly spaced citywide schedule under Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-13, and it's unlawful to set brush at curbside outside that window. Weekly yard trimmings instead go in the green organics cart under Sec. 14-17, and off-cycle brush pickup costs an extra fee under Sec. 14-14.
San Antonio Brush and Yard Waste Rules
Some RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-13
(a)Time for brush collection. Brush collection will take place two (2) times annually by regularly scheduled and approximately evenly spaced cycles as determined by the city. Requests for brush collection service other than during the regularly scheduled cycles shall be considered "out of cycle brush and bulky item collection" services as established in section 14-14.(b)Brush collection schedul...
Dumpster Rules
San Antonio's Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-41 sets tight placement and collection windows for commercial dumpsters and roll-out containers, especially downtown. In the Central Business District, roll-out containers can only sit curbside from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and must be gone by 9 a.m., with fines up to $2,000 per violation for containers left out late.
San Antonio Commercial Dumpster Placement Rules
Significant RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-41(e)-(f)
Roll-out containers in the Central Business District, as defined in section 14-1, shall be placed out for manual collection only between the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and shall be immediately removed after collection. It shall be unlawful for the owner, manager, tenant or occupant of any business establishment or building, or the agent or employee of any such person to place, allow or su...
Collection Schedule
San Antonio homes must use and pay for the city's garbage, brush, and refuse service; Sec. 14-30(a) makes it mandatory outside a narrow apartment or mobile-home-park exemption, with monthly fees set by container size and refuse required in sealed bags in a brown cart under Sec. 14-11.
San Antonio Mandatory Residential Garbage Service
Some RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-11; Sec. 14-30(a)
(a)Acceptable materials.(1)Household refuse shall be placed in containers designated by the city.(2)The designated color for refuse containers is brown.(3)To maintain container sanitary and to prevent windblown litter, all material placed in refuse containers shall be contained in sealed bags. ... Residences. Use of city garbage, brush, and refuse collection and removal and disposal services an...
Recycling Rules
San Antonio residents get a blue recycling cart with once-a-week pickup under Sec. 14-12, accepting paper, cardboard, metal cans, and rigid plastics loose and unbagged. Carts with refuse, appliances, clothing, or other contamination will not be collected.
San Antonio Residential Recycling Rules
Some RestrictionsSan Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-12(a)
(a)Acceptable materials.(1)Residents are provided a blue recycling container in which to place specified items defined as recyclable materials. Residents participating in the recycling program receive once-per-week collection of recyclable materials. Specific collection days are designated by the director each week.(2)Acceptable recyclable materials shall be designated by the city, and include:...
Looking for Bexar County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement San Antonio city rules.
Trash & Recycling in Bexar County →