Lower Merion, PA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 82-13.1.G(1) requires every container of municipal waste placed for Township collection to sit at curbside or within five feet of the edge of the cartway, be readily visible from the cartway itself, and stay in the same spot at every collection. The point of collection has to sit next to a street, alley or cartway that is kept clear of snow and other obstructions and is built and maintained so a full-size Township refuse truck can reach it. Between collections, § 82-13.1.D(1) requires the opposite: containers must have tight-fitting covers kept in place at all times and must be stored so they are not visible from a street, which is the Township's screening requirement for carts sitting in a driveway or side yard on non-collection days.

Timing bridges the two rules. Under § 82-13.1.E(3), residents may set containers out for curbside pickup no earlier than 7:00 p.m. the evening before the scheduled collection and no later than 7:00 a.m. on collection day itself, and containers must be retrieved and brought back out of street view no later than 9:00 p.m. on the day they are collected. Residents with an approved rear-yard collection arrangement follow a different placement rule under § 82-13.1.G(2): the container sits centrally outside the building on the ground in a readily accessible spot, and non-leaf waste may go near the side or rear house line on the driveway side if space allows.

The Director of Public Works, with the Board of Commissioners' concurrence, settles any placement dispute under § 82-13.1.G(5) and can adopt further rules on manner, days and location of collection under § 82-13.1.D(12).