Bellevue, NE Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Bellevue Code of Ordinances Chapter 13, Division 2 governs every household and business container used for garbage, trash and rubbish in the City of Bellevue, Nebraska. Under § 13-31, anyone in possession or control of a dwelling, apartment, trailer or place of business must keep a suitable container on the premises and deposit all accumulated refuse in it. § 13-32 sets the container itself at not less than ten nor more than 35 gallons of capacity, of substantial construction, unless the city permits something different. § 13-33 requires the container be kept in as sanitary a condition as its use allows, and § 13-34 requires it stay closed tightly except while someone is actually depositing or collecting the contents, specifically so wind cannot blow refuse out over streets, alleys and neighboring premises. § 13-35 controls placement: on collection day the container must sit within five feet of the alleyway, or of the front curb where pickup is from the street, so the hauler can reach it without entering the yard.

Once collection is finished, the empty container cannot linger on a sidewalk, street, alley or other public place; it must come back off public property by the end of the same collection day unless a specific city regulation allows otherwise. § 13-36 adds that garbage itself must be drained and wrapped in paper before it goes into the container. Bellevue reserves collection to itself or its contracted hauler under § 13-22, so a cart left in the wrong spot on the wrong day can simply be missed by the crew that services that route.