Ulster County, NY Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

The County's Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Law issues recycling containers to households through participating municipalities, and § 304-22 protects those containers with four specific prohibitions: no one may remove a County recycling container from the County, take one without authorization, dispose of one other than by returning it to the municipality that issued it, or use one for anything other than the temporary storage of regulated recyclable materials such as glass, metal cans, plastics, newspaper, corrugated cardboard, paperboard or mixed paper as defined at § 304-9.

Each of the four acts is independently 'a violation' under the article. Ownership of what goes into those containers shifts once it is set out: § 304-20(A) provides that once regulated recyclable materials are set out for collection, placed in Agency containers, or deposited at a municipal recycling dropoff center or in the municipal recycling system, the materials 'become the property of the County,' and the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency directs and controls their processing, transport and sale. That rule does not run in reverse for material that is not properly prepared, however: § 304-20(B) states the County 'does not assume ownership of improperly prepared regulated recyclable materials, including those in an improper condition, container, or location,' so materials placed at the curb in the wrong container, contaminated, or left in the wrong spot remain the generator's responsibility to remove and re-sort under § 304-20(C).

The rules are enforced by the Agency's Recycling Compliance Officer, who investigates complaints and inspects sites, with the Agency's Executive Director or the Independent Administrative Hearing Officer created at § 304-25 authorized to pursue civil penalties for a violation.