Cleveland, OH Trash & Recycling: Holiday Pickup Schedule (2026)

Cleveland does not write holiday collection dates into its codified ordinances. Section 551.051 directs the Director of Public Service to provide for collection of garbage at least once each week and solid wastes at least once each month, and the section then leaves scheduling to the department. The holiday rule lives on the Division of Waste Collection & Disposal page of the City of Cleveland website, under the heading "Holidays & Delay Schedule" for the 2026 Waste & Recycling Calendar.

The page lists ten 2026 holidays and marks each one with one of three labels. Four holidays carry a plain "(1) Day Delay": New Year's Day on Jan. 1 and MLK Day on Jan. 19 are the two with that label alone. Three carry "(1) Day Delay All Week": Memorial Day on May 25, Labor Day on Sept. 7, and the two late-year holidays that residents search for most, Thanksgiving on Nov. 26 and Christmas Day on Dec. 25. That makes five holidays with a delay of some kind in the all-week group. Four holidays carry "No Delay": Presidents Day on Feb. 16, Good Friday on April 3, Juneteenth on June 19, and Independence Day on July 4.

The page prints the labels without defining them, so it does not spell out how a one-day delay differs from a one-day delay all week. It also prints dates for 2026 only. The posted calendar does not carry a New Year's Day 2027 entry, so check the division's 2027 calendar when it is posted.

The same page sets the routine for collection day. Carts go curbside the night before collection, or no later than 6:00 AM on collection day. Crews run from 7:00 AM until 4:30 PM, Monday through Saturday, weather permitting, which matters on a delay week because a truck does not reach a given address at the same time every week. Waste is not counted as missed until the end of the day at 4:30 pm. A resident who is missed calls 311 or 216-664-2000, and the waste can then be left on the curbside for pick-up the following day.

The same page caps weekly set-outs at 20 bundles of brush and tree branches, 20 bags of yard waste, four tires without rims, and three bulk items during bulk week.