North Hempstead, NY Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Section 46-14C governs how residents must prepare Yard Waste for pickup: it has to be separated from other waste, bagged or containerized, and set at curbside on the yard-waste collection day the garbage district or collection area has established, ultimately going to a publicly owned Solid Waste Management Facility the Commissioner designates. Subsection (3) is the carve-out: it expressly states this preparation-and-collection scheme does not prohibit private, noncommercial composting of yard waste or mulching of leaves, grass clippings and cuttings, so a resident who wants to compost at home instead of setting material at the curb is free to do so.

1B(3) says nothing in the yard-waste recycling rule precludes residents from leaving grass clippings on their lawns. More broadly, § 46-14L confirms the Town's policy leans toward diversion rather than disposal, stating that nothing in the chapter is meant to prohibit the Town or its municipalities from adopting programs to reduce solid waste volume, including composting and recycling programs. The code sets no minimum setback, container type or size standard for a private compost pile; a resident who instead ran a commercial composting operation would fall under the separate Solid Waste Management Facility licensing scheme in Article II.