McHenry County, IL Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

There is no county ordinance forcing every household in unincorporated McHenry County onto a set weekly pickup day or requiring a household to subscribe to service at all; Chapter 8.24's exemptions even excuse anyone who transports their own discarded materials from the licensing scheme entirely (§ 8.24.010A). What the county does regulate is the timing and terms haulers must follow once they do provide regularly scheduled service. Section 8.24.090F sets the operative schedule limit: municipal waste haulers serving unincorporated areas or municipalities without their own service contracts may not begin collection activities before 5:00 a.m.

The same section requires those haulers to offer customers, beyond a standard flat fee, the choice of pay-as-you-throw or volume-based pricing for collection service (§ 8.24.090A), and to offer seasonal leaf collection as an add-on option, which the hauler may bill separately (§ 8.24.090G). Haulers must also file a written operations report with the Department of Health twice a year, by July 31 for the first half and January 31 for the second half, covering their municipal waste and recycling service (§ 8.24.090C). A hauler is licensed by McHenry County's Department of Health under Chapter 8.24, and a household's actual pickup day is set by whichever licensed hauler the resident or their homeowners' association contracts with, not by the county.