Albany Department of General Services (DGS) collects household refuse curbside weekly. Under City Code Chapter 313, containers must be placed at the curb no earlier than 4:30 PM the evening before collection and no later than 12:01 AM on collection day. All garbage must be containerized in heavy-duty bags or in lidded metal/plastic containers with a maximum 50-gallon capacity, and bins may not be stored in public view between collection days.
Albany's Department of General Services (DGS) runs curbside trash and recycling collection citywide. The placement and timing rules are codified in Albany City Code Chapter 313 (Solid Waste), Article I, with the operating provisions on preparation and placement appearing at § 313 / ecode360 ID 7684402. The ordinance requires every property owner and occupant to containerize household refuse and place it at the curbside (or designated alley) within a defined set-out window.
Trash and recycling must be placed curbside no earlier than 4:30 PM on the evening prior to collection and no later than 12:01 AM on the scheduled collection day. The early-set-out limit is meant to prevent containers sitting on the sidewalk for days at a time, which the city treats as a property-maintenance and aesthetic issue. After pickup, containers must be removed from public view — empty cans, bags, or bins left at the curb beyond collection day are a separate violation handled by Code Enforcement.
Containers themselves are also regulated. All garbage must be containerized using heavy-duty plastic bags (ends tied securely) or in metal or plastic containers fitted with lids. The maximum allowed container size is 50 gallons, sized so a single DGS worker can lift it. Quantities that exceed what one person can manage, or that would require more than four trips between the pile and the collection vehicle, are treated as "excessive trash" and require a scheduled special pickup at the owner's expense; uncollected excessive piles can be cited as a property-maintenance violation.
DGS publishes block-by-block collection-day maps; pickup runs Monday through Friday across the city, and holiday weeks shift days forward. The DGS office can be reached at (518) 434-2489. Multi-unit buildings of four or more units are typically required to contract private waste hauling, with the same container and set-out rules applied to dumpsters and shared bins.
Putting trash out before 4:30 PM the prior evening, leaving empty bins in public view, or using oversized/uncovered containers can draw a written notice from the Department of Buildings & Regulatory Compliance with fines typically starting at $50 for a first violation and escalating to $250+ for repeat offenses. Excessive trash piles can be billed back to the property owner at DGS's scheduled-pickup rate plus an administrative fee, and unpaid charges can become a tax lien on the property under Chapter 313.
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