Oak Park, IL Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Village Code section 20-7-2(B) governs where and when Oak Park households place garbage, refuse, yard waste and recycling for pickup. Containers stored under subsection A, plus bulk items awaiting a special pickup, must sit close to but not encroaching on the public alley behind the property, no more than three feet from the alley line, and stay easily accessible to the collection crew or positioned along any rear yard fence or enclosure. The Director of Public Works can approve alley placement in the least obtrusive spot when adjoining structures make on-property storage impossible, but that approval is narrow, specific containers in specific locations, and can be withdrawn any time the Director decides the containers block the public way.

Properties on blocks without an alley set out at the curb, in the strip between the street and the sidewalk, instead. Every storage area has to be kept clean by the owner, occupant or responsible party. Containers cannot go out before 7:00 AM on the assigned collection day, and once the crew empties them they must be pulled back in by 10:00 PM the same day. Garbage and recycling collection days can differ, but when they land on the same day, recycling containers and yard waste bags must sit next to the garbage cart.

During the annual fall leaf program the Village gives at least a week's newspaper notice of the collection window, and bagged leaves under fifty pounds go out at the curb in the parkway.