Birmingham, AL Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

City Code § 4-3-2(a) places an affirmative duty on 'the owner of or the person in charge or control of any dwelling, hotel, restaurant, delicatessen or store where food for human consumption is prepared or kept for sale or any other place where garbage originates' to maintain a sufficient number of approved garbage and rubbish containers, or special containers for larger operations, on the premises. Disposing of garbage any way other than through an approved container headed to a disposal site authorized under federal or state law, city ordinance and the state department of environmental management is unlawful.

Subsection (b) sets maintenance standards for whatever containers are used: lids and covers must stay tightly fitted except while depositing waste, and paper or plastic bags must stay tied or otherwise sealed at all times except while being filled, all to keep flies out and prevent soiling of the ground or structure where they sit. Subsection (c) separately bars putting ashes, cinders, gravel, rock, sand or earth into a garbage container meant for food waste and rubbish. 1 as a watertight paper or plastic bag or a can holding no more than 50 pounds, or a rustproof metal or plastic can of 15 to 30 gallons with a tight lid and handles.

The section does not itself fix collection days or a weekly schedule; those operational details are set administratively by the department of public works, while § 4-3-4 separately caps how many containers a single-family home (four) or multi-family property (ten) may keep out for pickup at one time. The mandatory-use duty traces to Code 1964, § 24-2 and was last amended by Ord. No. 94-222 on October 4, 1994.