Medford, MA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 70-4, in the solid waste chapter's general article, governs where and when residential and other rubbish receptacles can be placed for collection. Receptacles containing ashes or rubbish must sit on the outer edge of the sidewalk, positioned so they do not obstruct the free flow of foot travel on the sidewalk. Owners may not set such receptacles out any earlier than 7:00 p.m. on the day immediately before the city's scheduled collection day for that address, which keeps bins off the sidewalk for the bulk of the preceding day and evening.

The placement rule sits alongside other solid waste provisions: Section 70-5 requires that any container used for refuse be of a type the director of public works has authorized, and that boxes or cardboard containers be flattened and tied into bundles weighing no more than 50 pounds for collection. Section 70-6 sets a separate, later placement window for business establishments, which may not put rubbish out on the sidewalk before 9:00 a.m. on the appointed collection day, reflecting the different collection schedule for commercial accounts.

Section 70-2 separately bars dropping or throwing rubbish, ashes, dirt or similar material onto any street, sidewalk or public place at all, unless it is properly contained and set out for city collection on a scheduled day, and Section 70-7 bars anyone but authorized collectors from scavenging materials set aside for the recycling program. Chapter 70 does not carry its own dedicated fine for a Section 70-4 violation, so enforcement falls to the citywide general penalty in Section 1-13, up to $300.00 for each offense, with every day a violation continues counted as a separate offense.