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

Section 633-2A(1) sets the physical specification for mixed-refuse containers: watertight metal or plastic receptacles with tight-fitting covers to keep out water and animals, sized between five and thirty-two gallons for both one- and two-family homes and multi-family, industrial and commercial buildings, and equipped with handles so they can be lifted. Plastic can liners up to 30 gallons may substitute for or line those containers. Where the receptacles are stored day-to-day, § 633-2F confines rubbish receptacle storage to the rear yard setback, keeping carts out of front and side yards between collections.

Section 633-5A then governs the day of collection itself: the owner, occupant or person in charge of the property must place containers at the curbline in front of the building on the scheduled collection day, but may not set them out before 5:00 p.m. on the afternoon preceding collection or later than 7:00 a.m. on the morning of collection, and must remove the emptied receptacles from the street the same day collection occurs. In business or manufacturing zones with a rear or side alley, receptacles go in the alley, or at another location the City Manager designates, instead of the curb.

Multiple-family dwellings and commercial or industrial sites generating two or more cubic yards of refuse weekly must instead enclose their refuse in a City-approved container on a cement pad under § 633-8B. Waste left between the sidewalk and curb outside these rules is still picked up by City-authorized crews, but the property is charged for that pickup regardless of whether a call was made.