Pontiac, MI Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 94-26(b) governs every house or four-unit-or-less apartment enrolled in the City's curbside refuse program. Residents must use the City-provided 105-gallon cart for on-site storage between weekly collections, keep the lid closed except while adding refuse, and avoid setting out items that do not qualify for collection. The cart has to reach the curb in front of the collection address by 7:00 a.m. on the scheduled day and cannot go out before 7:00 p.m. the night before. It must come back off the curb by 7:00 p.m. on collection day and then be stored under § 94-26(g), which requires all waste containers, full or empty, to sit outside public view, typically in a garage or, if kept in the rear yard, positioned so they cannot be seen from the street in front of the house.

A corner lot with no garage may keep the cart at the side of the property away from the front under one of subsection (g)'s exceptions. Damage from user abuse or misuse is billed to the property owner, as determined by a Department of Public Works representative, and a cart moved to and set out at an address other than where it was issued is itself a chapter violation; the Department can reclaim a misplaced cart, empty it, and return it to the correct address, with the abatement cost assessed under § 94-35 and secured by a lien on the property with the priority of a tax lien.