Columbus, IN Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Columbus Municipal Code § 8.24.090 sets the timing and screening rules for city-owned and city-approved containers, which the code calls toters. A container goes to the curb no earlier than twenty-four hours before the scheduled collection time. It must be removed within twenty-four hours after pickup and placed either in a side or rear yard or inside a building, structure or other enclosure that minimizes or substantially obstructs the toter from public view.

The section carries a hardship alternative. Where a particular hardship exists, the toter can sit in an inconspicuous location within five feet of the front of the residence, and the toter must be completely inside that five-foot area.

Collection day itself comes from § 8.24.030. The city collects from residential dwellings and mobile home parks one time per week, and the container must be out by 7:00 a.m. on the designated day. Apartment complexes, commercial and industrial establishments and residents on private streets in for profit residential establishments arrange their own extra pickups through a private hauler.

What the container is matters too. Section 8.24.060 says only city-owned or city-approved containers provided by the city are used for collection, each one is assigned to a particular residential premises and stays there when the owner or occupant moves, and the choices are a ninety-six gallon, sixty-four gallon or forty-eight gallon container. An exchange for a different size carries a thirty dollar fee under subsection E. Section 8.24.100 adds that lids must stay attached and closed at all times on containers holding garbage or refuse.

Under § 8.24.270 the code treats several set-out failures as public nuisances: placing containers near an alley or curbside more than twenty-four hours before collection, keeping containers open, and placing trash for collection in cardboard boxes or paper sacks.