Flint, MI Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Flint's bin-placement rules are a hybrid of Section 39-12 (which requires that garbage be 'drained, wrapped, and placed in covered receptacles') and the operating rules published by Priority Waste in its City-of-Flint brochure. The published Priority Waste rule is unambiguous: carts at the curb before 7 a.m. on your designated collection day; yard waste and compost bags or 40-gal-or-smaller containers placed at least 10 feet away from regular trash and recycling carts (because the compost truck is a separate vehicle on a separate route). Cart handles should face the house so the automated or semi-automated arm grabs the cart correctly; carts should be set in the gutter or just behind the curb (not in the cartway, not on the public sidewalk in a way that blocks pedestrian travel). Carts must be clear of parked vehicles, mailboxes, utility poles, fire hydrants, low-hanging tree limbs, and adjacent carts - the Priority Waste brochure asks for several feet of clearance on all sides so the truck can swing in. Carts that are blocked when the truck arrives may be skipped for that week; the cart is not returned to until the next regular collection day unless Priority Waste customer service (855-927-8365 or 586-228-1200) confirms a make-up. After collection, residents must retrieve the empty carts from the curb; long-term curbside storage of carts on the public right-of-way is a Chapter 31 Article III blight-violation concern returnable to the Administrative Hearings Bureau (Blight Court). Multi-family properties on private commercial collection are still bound by the bin-placement rules and by Section 39-12's covered-receptacle requirement.