Columbus, IN Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Columbus Municipal Code § 8.24.120 is the entire home composting rule in the City of Columbus, Indiana. It has two parts. First, where home composting is practiced, food scraps cannot be applied unless the area being used is surrounded on all sides by a fence or walls to keep out animals. Second, meat scraps will not be permitted in home composting. The code sets no minimum bin size, setback or permit requirement in this section, so the fence-or-walls enclosure and the meat ban are the two enforceable conditions.

The composting rule sits in Chapter 8.24, the solid waste chapter, next to the city's curbside program for yard material. Under § 8.24.210, all grass and leaves go in a city-owned or city-approved container and are collected curbside only by composting crews. Composting routes run one day after the regular sanitation routes, except that Friday is collected on Monday. Grass and leaves must be free of any trash, twigs, garden waste or other debris, and the section adds that it will be supplemented by a fall loose leaf composting program.

Section 8.24.010 defines yard waste as all vegetative matter including grass, weeds, leaves, brush, tree trimmings, hedge clippings and garden waste. Tree cuttings put out for the city under § 8.24.130 cannot exceed six feet in length and have to be piled neatly and free of any other solid waste.

Odor is covered separately. Section 8.24.270 declares it a public nuisance to let solid waste ferment, putrefy or become odoriferous in city-owned or city-approved containers on private premises. Rules published by the city services manager with board approval have the force of law under § 8.24.020E, and violating them is punishable the same way as violating the chapter.