Tuscaloosa offers free weekly residential trash (bulky-item and yard-debris) pickup to garbage customers. Limbs must be cut under 8 feet long and 8 inches in diameter, placed 3 feet from objects. Up to 5 cubic yards is free; 5–20 yards is billed; over 20 yards is the resident's responsibility.
Section 16-97 establishes the city's voluntary, no-charge residential trash collection — once weekly for family units that also receive city garbage service. 'Trash' (Sec. 16-90) means tree and lawn trimmings, leaves, pine straw, rocks, brick, dirt, ashes, lumber, concrete, bushes and demolition-type waste, but not garbage, litter or hazardous waste. Bagged trash must be in securely tied plastic bags in good condition (Sec. 16-97(b)(1)). Limbs, brush and wood not capable of being bagged must be cut to lengths not exceeding 8 feet and no larger than 8 inches in diameter, and placed at curbside no closer than 3 feet from any inanimate object (Sec. 16-97(b)(2)). Large bulky items follow the same 3-foot rule (Sec. 16-97(b)(3)). The city collects up to 5 cubic yards per weekly service free; amounts over 5 but under 11 cubic yards incur a $50 special fee, and over 11 up to 20 cubic yards a $100 fee; the city will not collect more than 20 cubic yards, and the resident must remove the excess (Sec. 16-97(b)(7)). Contractor-generated debris is excluded — tree, landscaping, construction and demolition contractors must haul their own waste under Section 16-101. The city does not collect garbage, hazardous waste, recyclables or items it cannot safely handle on trash days (Sec. 16-97(b)(4)).
Placing contractor debris, garbage, hazardous waste or non-trash items for city trash collection violates Sec. 16-97 and Sec. 16-101. Excess over 20 cubic yards left in the right-of-way, or any trash creating a traffic hazard, may be removed by the city with the cost billed to the resident, and failure to remove excess is prosecuted under Sec. 13-67.1 (removal of accumulation required).
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Tuscaloosa has no ordinance prohibiting or permitting backyard composting. The relevant limits come from public-health rules: compost must not become a rat h...
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Tuscaloosa's Code of Ordinances contains no provision regulating artificial or synthetic turf, and the zoning landscape standards (Ch. 25, Art. VI, Div. 3) d...
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Tuscaloosa's zoning landscape standards (Sec. 25-128 and Sec. 25-131) encourage native, drought-tolerant plants and prohibit species on the Alabama Invasive ...
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Tuscaloosa has no ordinance restricting residential rainwater harvesting, and Alabama places no statewide cap on it. The city's zoning landscape standards (S...
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Tuscaloosa has a five-stage water conservation plan (Sec. 16-36) tied to Lake Tuscaloosa levels and demand. In Stage 2, irrigation is limited to two days a w...
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Tuscaloosa Code Sec. 13-67 bars allowing weeds, grass, or kudzu over 12 inches, or letting vines, underbrush, downed trees, or limbs become overgrown so as t...
See how Tuscaloosa's bulk item disposal rules stack up against other locations.
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