Trash & Recycling in Pennsylvania (2026)

Allentown households may set out no more than five thirty-gallon trash bags, capped at 40 pounds each, or two…

Section 1162.09 sets Bethlehem's trash pickup schedule: six days a week, Monday through Saturday, with different hours…

Erie residents cannot leave refuse in the street between collections. Only the City or its licensed contractor may haul…

Franklin Township's Refuse Ordinance regulates how collection is carried out, not who collects it. Section 20-104…

Penn Hills collects residential garbage weekly and confines all solid waste collection to Monday-Friday and Saturday, 6…

City waste and recycling can only go to the curb within a fixed evening-to-morning window set by season, not whenever…

Pittsburgh residents must set trash and recycling out no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before collection, no later than…

Pottstown's noise ordinance, not its solid waste chapter, sets the actual pickup-hour limit: Section 803(2)(C) bars…

Reading collects solid waste and recycling 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 6:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays, with no…

Scranton requires every dwelling to use tight, covered garbage receptacles of 3 to 26 gallons, placed in the yard where…

Upper Darby limits how residents may set out household refuse: containers must be metal or plastic, no full container…

No matter where you live in York County, your hauler must deliver household garbage to the York County Resource…

Allentown residents must keep trash containers off the front porch and may only wheel them to the curbline between 5…

Bethlehem bars storing trash containers in front of a building unless there is no rear or side access, and containers…

Erie requires every household to keep rigid, watertight refuse cans of 3 to 35 gallons with outside handles and a…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, most garbage containers must be fully screened behind a six-foot…

Penn Hills caps standard trash cans at 32 gallons and 50 pounds loaded (unless using automated carts), requires…

City code sets exact curbside windows for municipal waste and recycling: out before 7 a.m. on collection day, but not…

Pittsburgh requires trash and recycling containers to be stored in the rear of the property, out of view of the street…

Pottstown bars putting trash or garbage out for collection before 4:00 p.m. the night before the scheduled pickup, and…

Reading requires trash carts, toters and dumpsters to sit in the rear of the property out of public view, be screened…

Scranton requires every property owner to keep durable, covered trash containers stored in the rear of the property…

Upper Darby residents may not put refuse containers at the curb more than eight hours before the scheduled collection…

Pittsburgh's curbside crews skip demolition debris, unbundled brush, tires, batteries, and appliances: residents must…

Allentown allows one bulk item, like furniture or a mattress, or up to 40 pounds of construction material out for…

Bethlehem has no separate curbside bulk-item pickup program; instead Article 1162 folds oversized rubbish into its…

Large items like furniture and appliances are collected in Penn Hills only by prior arrangement with the waste…

Philadelphia gives regular curbside bulk item pickup to eligible small buildings, condos and co-ops under Code §…

Pottstown collects bulk waste items through a Special Collection program the Borough Manager schedules under Section…

Reading limits weekly bulky-item pickup to one item under 200 pounds or a construction/demolition bundle under 100…

Scranton picks up large nonmetal items like furniture, rugs and mattresses at curbside with regular trash on the…

Residents already on Township refuse collection can arrange a separate bulk trash pickup for items like white goods and…

York County residents can self-haul bulk trash and special-handling items directly to the York County Resource Recovery…

Pennsylvania's Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988 (Act 101) mandates curbside…

Allentown requires every property in the City Curbside Collection Program to source-separate designated recyclables…

The City of Bethlehem runs a mandatory curbside recycling program under Codified Ordinances Article 933. The Department…

Under Pennsylvania Act 101, any municipality with 10,000+ people, or 5,000–10,000 with density over 300 per square…

Erie residents must separate recyclables from trash and set them out under the city's mandatory Recovery Program…

Under PA Act 101, larger Lancaster County municipalities must run recycling programs. Municipalities with 10,000+…

Under Pennsylvania's Act 101, every Montgomery County municipality with 10,000 or more people, and smaller ones over…

Penn Hills requires every resident to separate designated recyclables, glass, metal cans, plastics, newspaper, and…

Philadelphia Code Section 10-717 bars anyone from setting out Municipal Waste or Recyclable Materials for city pickup…

Pittsburgh requires curbside recycling under Chapter 619, separating recyclables from municipal waste in blue…

Section 208(1) of the Borough Code spells out how Pottstown residents, churches and mixed-use properties must handle…

Every person and property in Reading must source-separate and recycle designated materials under §496-204, not just put…

Scranton runs a mandatory Source Separation Resource Recovery Program under Section 400-27, collecting recyclables…

Upper Darby runs a mandatory recycling collection program for every household's municipal waste, and residents may not…

Under Pennsylvania's Act 101, recycling is mandatory in 18 York County municipalities, determined by population and…

When a regular Upper Darby collection day falls on a legal holiday, residents may not set out ashes, rubbish or…

Dumping trash, debris, appliances, tires, vehicles, construction material or hazardous waste on public or private…

Bucks County bars bringing tires, electronics, household waste, refuse or any other dangerous or detrimental substance…

Dumping trash on roads, another's land, or waters of Pennsylvania is a summary offense under 18 Pa.C.S. Section 6501…

Dumping, throwing, or depositing solid waste on any Penn Hills street, sidewalk, waterway, or public or private…

Philadelphia treats illegal dumping as a serious offense, not a litter ticket: depositing trash, debris or municipal…

Pittsburgh bans willfully dumping debris on public or private property, sewers, or waterways, with a minimum $500 fine…

Section 214 of the Borough Code flatly bans burying, burning or dumping municipal waste on any street, alley, public…

Scranton declares dumping ashes, scrap, garbage, rubbish or refuse anywhere in the city, or into its rivers, streams or…

Upper Darby bans anyone from accumulating or disposing of solid waste on any property except through licensed…

Bethlehem bars anyone from depositing or throwing solid waste on any street, private alley, vacant lot, public area or…

Dumping rubbish, garbage or waste on private, vacant or public property in Erie is a $100 Quality-of-Life ticket under…

Dumping solid waste or recyclable material on vacant or unoccupied property in Reading is a quality-of-life ticket…

Pennsylvania's scattering-rubbish law (18 Pa.C.S. §6501) makes it a summary offense to dump waste on roads, others'…

Dumping trash on roads, another person's land, or the state's waters is a crime under 18 Pa.C.S. §6501 (scattering…

Illegal dumping is a state crime in Pennsylvania. Under 18 Pa.C.S. §6501 (scattering rubbish), depositing waste on…

Dumping trash on roads, another person's land or into waterways is a state crime in Montgomery County, PA. Under 18…

Allentown residents must keep yard waste separate from trash and recyclables until collection, unless they compost it…

Bethlehem collects yard waste twice a year at the curb under Section 1162.04(f), separate from trash and recycling…

Erie collects leaves from every premises that gets garbage service, but they must go out in open rigid containers at…

Penn Hills bans loose leaves from garbage collection and requires residents to bag leaves and set them curbside only 24…

Pittsburgh requires residents to separate leaf waste, leaves, garden residue, shrubbery, and tree trimmings, from…

Pottstown Borough Code Section 208(1)(B) requires every house, apartment and church to separate yard materials…

Reading collects leaves, garden residue, shrubbery and tree trimmings as 'yard waste' under §496-201, but only in…

Scranton collects leaves, brush and yard trimmings curbside from April through November plus Christmas trees each…

Upper Darby requires leaf waste, meaning leaves, garden residue and tree trimmings but not grass clippings, to be kept…

Homeowners composting leaves or yard waste in their own garden don't need a county waste-facility permit, unlike…

Before a hauler can drop a dumpster at a Bethlehem business, the Director of Community and Economic Development must…

Every roll-off or lugger container used to collect waste in Delaware County must be registered with the Solid Waste…

Philadelphia requires a license and radio-frequency medallion for every dumpster used to store refuse or recyclables…

Commercial, industrial and larger multifamily properties in Pottstown cannot use residential can service; Section…

Placing a roll-off container or portable box on any Scranton street or highway requires a permit from the Department of…

County code sets construction, covering and cleanliness standards for every dumpster, roll-off container and compactor…

Placing a dumpster in an Allentown street right-of-way requires a use permit from the Director of Community and…

Any temporary dumpster placed in Erie, whether on private property, in the public right-of-way, or anywhere else in the…

Penn Hills requires a permit before placing a bulk rubbish container or roll-off dumpster, bars placement in the…

Commercial and institutional properties not serviced by the City must place dumpsters and waste containers at least 30…

Reading requires a Solid Waste Division permit for any permanent dumpster and bars large roll-offs from sidewalks and…

Anyone placing a dumpster, open-top container or portable storage container on an Upper Darby street needs a Department…

Allentown automatically enrolls single-family homes, multifamily buildings of 25 units or fewer, and rooming units in…

Bethlehem collects residential solid waste six days a week, Monday through Saturday, 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the south side…

Erie runs mandatory weekly residential refuse collection through the Bureau of Refuse and Recycling and bills every…

Franklin Township runs no municipal trash trucks or township-set pickup calendar; private haulers handle collection…

Penn Hills provides weekly residential garbage and rubbish collection and requires households to use the municipal…

City curbside pickup is set by Streets Department regulation, not the Code itself, and only eligible small properties…

Pittsburgh residents may set municipal waste and recyclables curbside starting 6 p.m. the evening before collection…

Section 213 makes municipal waste collection mandatory for Pottstown residences, churches and mixed-use properties…

Every property owner in Reading must have trash and recycling service, either through the City's municipal program or a…

Scranton requires every property owner to keep trash and recycling in durable, watertight, covered metal or plastic…

Upper Darby Township collects refuse directly from every residential building under Chapter 461, billing property…

Recyclables in Allentown must be prepared and placed at curbside separate from trash, remaining the resident's property…

Section 933.04 of Bethlehem's Codified Ordinances spells out exactly how residents must sort recyclables for curbside…

Every owner or occupant setting out trash for Philadelphia's Streets Department must separate designated recyclables…

Pittsburgh requires recycling under Pennsylvania Act 101: recyclables must be separated from trash, kept residue-free…

Pottstown Borough Code Section 206 makes recycling mandatory, not optional, for every residence, church and mixed-use…

Upper Darby supplies the recycling containers and controls how they're used: recyclables must be stored until…