Pottstown, PA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

The Borough's recycling ordinance opens with a legislative finding, Section 201(1), that the conservation of recyclable materials and the collection and disposal of leaf waste and yard materials matter because of the growing problem of municipal waste disposal and its impact on the environment. That policy carries through to composting specifically. Section 208(1)(B) requires single-family residents, apartments and church facilities to separate yard materials from other municipal waste and bag them for collection, but it excuses that duty entirely wherever provision is made for composting the material on the property, meaning a homeowner who composts leaves, prunings and other yard debris on-site has no bagging or curb-separation obligation for that material at all.

The code sets no minimum bin design, setback, or enclosure standard for that on-site composting; the only requirement is that the material actually be composted rather than mixed into household trash. Multifamily housing properties of seven units or more face a mandatory version of the same choice under Section 208(2)(C): yard material generated at the property must be separated from all other waste and then composted, used as mulch, or placed for collection, with no option to simply discard it with regular refuse. Grass clippings, per the Section 205 definition of yard materials, fall outside this composting and collection scheme altogether and are excluded from Borough collection whether composted or not.

Because composting substitutes for, rather than adds to, the collection duty, a property that fails to compost, mulch or properly bag its yard material is still subject to the same separation violation as any other noncompliant property under Chapter 20, Part 2.