Kankakee County, IL Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 46-30 sets the container standard for every property in unincorporated Kankakee County where refuse is generated or stored. Residential properties and small businesses must provide at least one 20-gallon container per two residents, or one per small business, and containers must be rigid, corrosion-resistant, built of metal or plastic, and leakproof and flyproof with tight-fitting lids and side handles. Hand-emptied containers must hold at least 20 gallons but no more than 30 gallons. Apartment buildings or larger businesses needing eight or more 20-gallon containers must instead use one-cubic-yard-or-larger bins that are stable when loaded or empty, fitted with hinged lids or sliding doors, built for mechanical dumping, durable, and kept fly- and vermin-proof.

Plastic bags are not an approved container in general; the code allows them only for a single-family dwelling or duplex, and only when the bagged, sealed refuse is stored somewhere flyproof, such as a shed, garage, other outbuilding, or inside the dwelling, until it goes out for pickup. Bags must be tied and set outdoors only on the day of collection, as close to pickup time as practical, not left curbside for days in advance. Containers may be opened only to deposit or collect refuse or to clean them, and property owners, tenants, or their agents are responsible for keeping containers in clean, sanitary condition, scrubbed or steam-cleaned as needed to keep out vermin and odors.