Duluth, MN Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Duluth Legislative Code Section 24-30 governs backyard composting under Chapter 24's Article IV, Fertilizer, Manure and Composting. Anyone disposing of yard waste in the city must use either a back yard compost site or the yard waste compost facility; Section 24-29(b) separately bars dumping yard wastes, tree branches, brush or other vegetative waste anywhere else on a lot, street or alley. A qualifying backyard site has to sit in the rear yard as Chapter 50 (the Unified Development Chapter) defines that term, and it must be at least 15 feet from any dwelling.

The pile itself needs a rigid enclosure, strong enough to both keep compost material from escaping the site and keep animals out of it. Only yard waste and other vegetative material may go in; the section specifically bars animal waste, manure, or putrescible animal or food matter from the pile, so kitchen scraps and pet waste cannot be composted at a residential site under this rule. A site also cannot be run in a way that draws insects, rodents or other animals, or that produces odors offensive enough to disturb neighboring property owners; either problem is itself a violation independent of the setback and construction standards.

The same Article also regulates manure storage (Section 24-28, requiring a tight, flyproof box or pit) and manure dumping (Section 24-29(a)), which sit alongside the composting rule as the chapter's older nuisance-control provisions dating to Ordinance No. 5618.