Tuscaloosa, AL Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

City Code Sec. 16-93 governs which container qualifies for collection and how it can be used. Only a city-issued garbage cart, properly maintained, counts; the department will not empty grocery bags, trash cans, cardboard boxes, or any other 'nonconforming receptacle,' and setting one out for collection is itself a violation that can be treated as a public nuisance subject to abatement. Carts may hold only garbage as the code defines it, not construction debris, concrete, bricks, scrap metal, or rock, and a loaded cart can never exceed 200 pounds; trash, as opposed to garbage, cannot go in a cart at all (Sec.

16-93(c)). Sec. 16-93(b) separately bars hazardous waste, improperly disposed or unprotected medical waste, and the carcasses of deer or other large animals from any cart. Placement location matters too: under Sec. 16-94(d), a nonresidential property with usable rear or side yard access must set its carts out there rather than at the curb in front of the building, unless the environmental services department directs otherwise. As a matter of policy the city does not send crews onto private driveways or roadways for routine pickup (Sec.

16-93(d)), though the department director may authorize an alternate collection method where a resident is disabled or otherwise unable to bring a cart to the curb, or where the property owner consents in writing to crews using an adjacent private area.