Lancaster County, NE Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)
Key Facts
- Unrestricted window
- Dec 1 - Mar 31 each year
- Rest of year
- Yard waste must be source-separated
- Public-lands rule
- Composted material given preference
- Waste tires
- Land disposal banned except nonrecyclable types
- Also banned
- Lead-acid batteries, waste oil, appliances
- Regulator
- NE Dept. of Water, Energy, and Environment
Summary
Nebraska law lets landfills take yard waste with no conditions only from December 1 through March 31. The rest of the year, grass clippings, leaves and brush headed to a Lancaster County landfill must be source-separated for composting or approved for methane recovery under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-2039, the statute that shapes county composting programs.
(1)(a) A landfill may accept yard waste without condition from December 1 through March 31 of each year. (b) A landfill may accept yard waste year-round if such yard waste: (i) Will be used for the production and recovery of methane gas for use as fuel (A) with the approval of the department and (B) at a landfill operating as a solid waste management facility with a permit issued pursuant to the department's rules and regulations; or (ii) Has been separated at its source from other solid waste and will be used for the purpose of soil conditioning or composting. (c) State and local governmental entities responsible for the maintenance of public lands shall give preference to the use of composted materials in all land maintenance activities. This section does not prohibit the use of yard waste as land cover or as soil-conditioning material.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: the cited page had not changed since it was quoted.
Full Breakdown
Section 13-2039 of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act (Neb. Rev. §§ 13-2001 to 13-2043) sets the seasonal rule that pushes Lancaster County residents and haulers toward composting rather than landfilling. From December 1 through March 31, a landfill may take yard waste without any conditions. Outside that window, a landfill may still accept it only if the load has been separated at its source from other solid waste and will be used for soil conditioning or composting, or if it will be used to produce methane gas under a department-approved permit at a licensed solid waste management facility.
The same subsection directs state and local government entities responsible for public lands to give preference to composted material in land maintenance, and it expressly protects the use of yard waste as land cover or a soil conditioner rather than treating that use as prohibited disposal. The section reaches well beyond yard waste: it also bans land disposal of lead-acid batteries and waste oil outright, bans land disposal of waste tires except narrow categories such as non-recyclable press-on or foam pneumatic tires, and permits tire reuse only as crumb rubber product, tire-derived fuel, retreaded stock, drainage media, steelmaking material, or shredded fill in an approved civil engineering project.
It separately bans land disposal of discarded household appliances and of unregulated hazardous waste, apart from exempt household hazardous waste, unless disposed of at a licensed hazardous waste facility. Subsection (6) clarifies that incineration at a landfill counts as land disposal for every one of these bans, closing an obvious loophole.
Violations & Fines
The Department of Water, Energy, and Environment, defined for this Act at Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-2008, licenses every landfill and solid waste facility in the state, and a facility that accepts yard waste outside the December-March window without source separation or a methane-recovery permit is disposing of solid waste in violation of the conditions of its own state permit. The same enforcement exposure applies to a landfill that takes batteries, waste oil, banned tires, appliances, or unregulated hazardous waste for land disposal; each is an independent violation of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act tied to the facility's permit rather than to the resident who drops off the load.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put grass clippings out with regular trash in Lancaster County in July?
Why does Nebraska treat yard waste differently by season?
Does this law force the county to run a curbside compost program?
Are old tires or car batteries also covered by this same law?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lancaster County
Compare Lancaster County to another location·View the Nebraska landscaping rules overview
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