Bristol, CT Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Under Code of Ordinances § 10-6(a), the Department of Public Works will only collect rubbish placed in a city-issued container; residents may mark theirs with two-inch number stickers but may not paint, crayon or otherwise deface it, and a defaced city container can be pulled from service by the director of public works or an agent, with replacement billed to the property owner. Subsection (b) sets the placement window: containers may go to the curb no sooner than 3:00 p.m. the day before the scheduled collection day and no later than 6:00 a.m. on collection day itself, and they must sit at least five feet from any obstruction, a category the Code lists as parked vehicles, mailboxes, other solid waste containers, trees and bushes.

Once the truck has come, the empty container must come off the curb within twelve hours. The Board of Public Works separately controls container type, fee, color and size, and a household that wants an extra container beyond the one the city supplies per unit must buy an annual fee-paid subscription and display a valid paid sticker for it to be collected. Every curbside container is subject to inspection by the collector or the city to check that recyclables and other waste are properly separated under the rest of Chapter 10.