Ulster County, NY Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Ulster County does not run curbside trash trucks or set pickup days; collection is handled by private haulers under contract with residents, municipalities or businesses, and the County's role is licensing and flow control through the Ulster County Solid Waste Management Law, Local Law No. 9-1991, codified at §§ 304-33 through 304-42. Section 304-39 requires every hauler collecting, transporting or disposing of solid waste or recyclable materials generated in the County to hold an Agency-issued license, treated as a revocable privilege rather than a property right.

To get one, a hauler must disclose its officers, its vehicles (each marked with the licensee's name and an Agency-issued number), its proposed daily route and pickup schedule for every area it services, and file $1,000,000 liability and property-damage insurance, workers' compensation coverage, and a $200 application fee plus $100 per vehicle; municipalities are exempt from that fee. Licenses run through December 31 of the issuance year and are not transferable. Under § 304-41, once a hauler collects municipal solid waste anywhere in the County it must deliver that waste to a Solid Waste Management facility the Agency designates, and the Agency can require that a single facility handle disposal for the whole County or a defined area.

The law creates rebuttable presumptions to help enforce this: a marked collection container at a location is presumptive evidence that hauler is servicing it, and failing to deliver collected waste to the designated facility within three days is presumptive evidence of a violation. The Agency can suspend or revoke a license for refusing service without cause, failing to pay disposal bills, or violating the recycling law, after written notice and a hearing right under § 304-40.