Trash & Recycling in Iowa (2026)

In the unincorporated area of Adair County, Ordinance No. 36 requires anyone who collects or hauls solid waste owned by…

In the City of Ames, Iowa, every hauler licensed to collect garbage, refuse or recycling must maintain prompt, reliable…

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 110.10 requires every property where refuse accumulates to keep portable waste containers…

Anyone who collects and hauls garbage, refuse, or yard waste for a fee anywhere in Black Hawk County, including inside…

Council Bluffs requires trash carts and bags to be set at curbside immediately in front of the residence, within five…

Davenport Public Works collects trash weekly and recycling every other week for single-family through three-plex homes…

Des Moines collects trash weekly at least 52 times a year and requires carts set within 18 inches of the curb, three…

In the City of Dubuque, Public Works collects solid waste no more than once a week, always between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00…

Iowa City sets a strict window for curbside collection: containers cannot go out before 3:00 PM the day before pickup…

Sioux City requires owners to set trash and yard waste at the curb once the city gives collection notice, with alley…

Waterloo's collection rules in City Code § 4-3-5 require every property to keep suitable trash, recycling and yard…

West Des Moines requires trash for collection to go in a City-approved cart, with disposable bags allowed only for…

In the City of Ames, Iowa, households must keep garbage and recycling in a water-tight, tightly closed hard receptacle…

Cedar Rapids bars curbside solid waste, yard waste, and recycling carts from the curb or alley earlier than 6 p.m. the…

Davenport carts go between the curb and sidewalk, or within two feet of the alley edge, never on the sidewalk or…

Des Moines caps curbside cart set-out at 12 hours before and after your collection day, with carts placed at the street…

Dubuque residents can set carts out no more than 24 hours before pickup and must pull them back within 24 hours after…

In unincorporated Polk County, letting litter, garbage, or organic waste accumulate on your property is a health…

Sioux City limits how long garbage and yard-waste carts can sit curbside: no more than 24 hours before pickup and…

City Code § 4-4-6(A) in the City of Waterloo, Iowa bars putting refuse or trash in any street, median, alley or public…

West Des Moines requires carts to sit within 18 inches of the curb or right-of-way edge, clear of sidewalks and at…

The Adair County Sanitary Landfill charges $100.00 per ton for solid waste and construction/demolition debris beginning…

In the City of Ames, Iowa, bulky household items and other large trash go to the Arnold O. Chantland Resource Recovery…

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 111.05 lets residents get bulky, non-hazardous rubbish too large or heavy for normal solid…

Cedar Rapids requires households to schedule bulky item pickup in advance with the Solid Waste Recycling Department…

In the City of Council Bluffs, bulky waste such as furniture, appliances, carpets and other oversized household items…

Davenport collects bulky waste (furniture, appliances, tires) every other week on your recycling day at no extra…

Des Moines residents must buy a $5 large-item disposal sticker and schedule pickup with Public Works before setting out…

Dubuque will not collect anything bigger than 3 feet by 2 feet or heavier than 40 pounds unless it is scheduled ahead…

Iowa City will only haul away bulky solid waste, like couches, appliances and tires, if you call ahead and get approval…

In unincorporated Linn County, yard waste, grass clippings, leaves, garden waste, brush and trees, must be kept…

Sioux City runs no curbside bulk-item pickup: residents haul large trash, tires, and major appliances to the city's…

Waterloo residents can schedule curbside pickup of up to ten large bulky items like furniture, tires and appliances…

West Des Moines lets residents set out bulky items, anything too large for the City-approved cart, alongside regular…

Iowa Code Chapter 455D bans yard waste, lead-acid batteries, waste oil, and certain electronics from landfills…

The City of Ames, Iowa runs a mandatory curbside recycling program under Ames Municipal Code Sec. 10.27, collecting…

In the City of Ankeny, Iowa, Chapter 113 establishes a curbside recycling system inside the Solid Waste Enterprise…

Cedar Rapids requires every single-family home and every unit in a building of four dwellings or fewer to separate…

Council Bluffs requires recyclables to be clean and kept separate from garbage, and only designated materials count…

Davenport provides curbside recycling every other week. Accepted materials include glass, aluminum, steel and tin cans…

In the City of Dubuque, Public Works issues one City-owned curbside recycling container to every dwelling under City…

Every dwelling in Iowa City that fronts a public street gets weekly curbside recycling collected the same way as trash…

Iowa bans yard waste from landfills, so Johnson County's cities run curbside recycling and organics diversion. Iowa…

Waterloo runs a voluntary curbside recycling program for single-family dwellings only under City Code § 4-3-4…

In the City of West Des Moines, section 4-6-3 of the City Code creates a mandatory recycling program for multi-family…

Des Moines runs a voluntary single-stream curbside recycling program: residents who opt in get a city-issued blue…

Sioux City residents on the city's regular collection route can voluntarily join curbside recycling, but must separate…

In the City of Dubuque, City Code Section 13-6A-5(A) requires every property to separate all organic waste, including…

Iowa City does not force every household onto a food-scrap program, but it does regulate food waste once it enters the…

Adair County runs no curbside pickup, so there is no holiday pickup shift. Instead, the Adair County Sanitary Landfill…

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Linn County) halts garbage, recycling and yard waste collection on six named holidays and pushes…

In the City of Ames, Iowa, it is unlawful to deposit garbage, yard waste, refuse or recycling in any street, alley…

Cedar Rapids bans leaving, placing, throwing or dumping solid waste, yard waste or recycling materials on any public…

Des Moines bans dumping litter, solid waste, yard debris or other foreign material on streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way…

Dumping rubble or garbage anywhere in Sioux City, Iowa without the property owner's consent is banned citywide, backed…

City Code § 4-3A-4(B) makes it unlawful in the City of Waterloo, Iowa to dump garbage, dead animal matter, rubbish…

Scattering refuse or dumping trash on streets, private property, or into any stream in unincorporated Black Hawk County…

Burying or otherwise disposing of solid waste anywhere in the City of Council Bluffs other than an approved landfill is…

Dumping trash, junk, rocks, corncobs, brush, vehicles or machinery on a Story County secondary road right-of-way…

It is unlawful in West Des Moines to throw or deposit trash, garbage, rubbish, litter, or other debris on any street or…

Adair County Ordinance No. 8B prohibits discarding, placing, dumping or disposing of solid wastes, garbage or debris…

Ankeny bans discarding litter onto any land or water in the city, and separately bans letting solid waste pile up into…

In the City of Dubuque, it's unlawful to throw or dump paper, cards, advertisements, bottles, glass, nails, cans or any…

Iowa City bans throwing or depositing litter anywhere in the city outside a proper receptacle, on public property or…

In unincorporated Linn County, yard waste like grass, leaves and tree limbs may be burned under an open burning permit…

In the City of Ames, Iowa, brush and tree trimmings set out for collection must be tied in bundles no more than four…

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 110.06 requires every owner or occupant to keep yard waste, grass clippings, leaves, garden…

In unincorporated Black Hawk County, Iowa, owners and occupants must keep yard waste separated from garbage and refuse…

Cedar Rapids requires yard waste in green YARDY carts placed within 3 feet of the curb, spaced 6 feet from other…

Council Bluffs residents get regular weekly yard waste pickup and two unlimited six-week windows, spring and fall, when…

Des Moines requires yard debris kept separate from trash and set out in city-approved bags, green-lid carts, or…

In the City of Dubuque, yard waste moves through the organic waste collection service in City Code Section 13-6A-5…

Iowa City vacuums leaves raked into loose piles between the sidewalk and curb, no more than five feet back from the…

Sioux City yard waste for curbside pickup must go in approved containers, with tree limbs capped at 2 inches thick and…

Story County Code Chapter 40 requires yard waste, meaning grass clippings, leaves, garden waste, brush and trees (not…

Waterloo defines yard waste as small vegetative debris like grass, leaves and branches under 2 1/2 inches thick and…

West Des Moines collects an unlimited amount of yard waste each week, but only if it is bagged in a City-approved yard…

In the City of Ankeny, Iowa, commercial premises with excessive refuse must use City-approved metal bulk storage…

In the City of Council Bluffs, placing a dumpster, roll-off container or construction materials in the public…

Des Moines bars privately owned dumpsters and trash containers from public street rights-of-way except in alleys, and…

In the City of Dubuque, dumpsters and collection bins must sit in a rear or side yard behind a six-to-ten-foot opaque…

Commercial dumpsters in Iowa City must sit on private property, stay off the strip between a building and the street…

Sioux City, Iowa requires a city engineer permit for any dumpster or roll-off container placed in the public…

City Code § 4-4-6(B) requires every business establishment in the City of Waterloo, Iowa to store its refuse in…

In the City of West Des Moines, Zoning Code section 9-14-12 requires a dumpster serving a non-single-family property to…

Every residence fronting a street or alley on the city's solid waste route in Council Bluffs must use city collection…

In the City of Ames, Iowa, licensed haulers must collect garbage and refuse from single-family homes and multi-family…

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 111.04 guarantees residential solid waste pickup at least once every week, with commercial…

Cedar Rapids collects solid waste and yard waste from every household and business at least once a week, between 7 a.m…

Des Moines picks up residential solid waste weekly, at least 52 times a year, per a schedule the city manager sets…

Every Class I premises in Dubuque, meaning single-family homes and small multi-family buildings, must use the city's…

The City of Iowa City collects residential refuse once a week on a fixed route and bills each responsible party for the…

Sioux City collects solid waste and yard waste from low-density homes at least once a week, shifting pickup a day…

City Code § 4-3-4 requires the city to provide garbage, refuse, recycling and yard waste disposal service to every…

The City of West Des Moines collects residential solid waste once a week under City Code section 4-5-4, with the City…

Adair County runs no curbside collection in what this page publishes: waste goes to the landfill in Menlo. It is open…

Ames Municipal Code Sec. 10.8(4) sets the only three lawful ways to dispose of recycling in the City of Ames, Iowa…

Ankeny Code of Ordinances §§ 112.08 and 112.10 require anyone transporting designated recyclable materials to keep…

Council Bluffs collects recyclables curbside every other week under CBMC 4.12.060, and each residence is limited to one…

Des Moines runs a voluntary single-stream curbside recycling program: blue wheeled carts get picked up every other…

In the City of Dubuque, City Code Section 13-6A-4(C) lets Public Works pull a household's recycling container and stop…

Iowa City splits recycling duty by property size. Small-scale residences of four or fewer dwellings fronting a public…

City Code § 4-3-5(F) requires everyone in Waterloo to separate recycling materials from garbage, refuse and yard waste…

Section 4-6-9 of the West Des Moines City Code requires every multi-family property owner or waste contractor to keep…

The Adair County Sanitary Landfill and Recycling Center accepts oil, lead acid batteries, metal cans, clean cardboard…