Boston, MA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 23-1 ("Transportation of Refuse") sets the core pickup rule: refuse collection and hauling through city streets is limited to city employees and contractors engaged in public work, or to anyone else holding a permit from the Commissioner of Public Works, who can revoke that permit if the holder hauls refuse from outside Boston to a city-run incinerator. c. 111, §§ 31A-31B. Two companion sections govern the physical containers used for pickup: § 23-7 ("Size of Barrels") bars depositing waste into a drum or barrel collected by Public Works or a permitted hauler if it exceeds 20 inches in diameter or 28 inches in height, while § 23-8 bars overfilling any barrel at or under that size, or any dumpster, so that material is likely to spill during collection.

Section 23-9 separately bars businesses abutting a sidewalk from letting refuse sit outside except in a proper receptacle under § 23-1, and bars dumpsters left in an overflowing condition. Enforcement runs through § 23-20, which sets fixed fines by section rather than a single citywide amount: $200 for an unpermitted § 23-1 violation, $10 for an oversized § 23-7 barrel, $100 for § 23-8 overfilling, and $50 for § 23-9 sidewalk trash, with each violating person, their employer, and anyone else concerned in the act all separately liable.