Council Bluffs, IA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

CBMC 4.12.030 opens by prohibiting anyone from burying solid waste within the City of Council Bluffs except at an approved landfill, and from letting property under their control be used to bury solid waste unless that property is itself an approved, licensed disposal site. The section then lists the only items that may be buried, and on what terms: inorganic construction debris (rubble) buried pursuant to a city permit, materials such as sludge allowed under state statute or regulation, and, distinctly, leaves and garden and lawn trimmings, which may be composted and buried on the premises upon which they are generated with no permit named in the ordinance.

That makes backyard composting of yard debris one of only three lawful exceptions to the citywide burying ban, and the only one available to an ordinary homeowner without a permit or special license. The exception is limited to leaves and garden or lawn trimmings generated on that same property; it does not extend to bulky waste, construction debris, dead animals, hazardous waste or other categories defined in CBMC 4.12.010, which must go through regular collection under Chapter 4.12 instead of being buried or composted on site.