Yonkers, NY Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Chapter 92, Recycling, requires every residential waste generator to source-separate 'yard waste,' defined at § 92-3 as leaves, small branches, twigs and brush, from other trash and set it out on the Wednesday collection route under § 92-5(A)(3), in an open refuse container or brown paper bag. Section 92-4(E) carves a private-property exception directly out of that mandate: nothing in Chapter 92 is construed to prohibit private composting of garden and yard waste by a residential waste generator on the residential generator's own property. Section 92-6(E) repeats the identical exemption for nonresidential waste generators composting on their own property.

Because the exemption sits inside the source-separation article rather than a standalone composting chapter, Yonkers imposes no bin design, setback, odor, or registration requirements on backyard composting itself, only a green light to keep yard waste out of the regulated collection stream. A resident who composts is simply outside the § 92-4(A) obligation to source-separate and set out that yard waste for City pickup; anyone who instead sets yard waste at the curb must still follow the Wednesday collection procedure in the rest of the chapter. There is no Yonkers permit fee, application or City inspection tied to home composting under this chapter.