Columbus, IN Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 8.24.030 of the Columbus Municipal Code lets the city services manager fix collection dates and schedules through rules adopted by the Board of Public Works and Safety. The city collects solid waste from residential dwellings and mobile home parks one time per week, and it must be put out by 7:00 a.m. on the designated day. Each month the city conducts one free special trash pickup outside the regular schedule. Other special pickups requested by a residential owner carry a fee determined by the board. Apartment complexes, commercial and industrial establishments, and residents on private streets in for-profit residential establishments arrange special pickups or additional collections through a private hauler of their choice, and contractors must remove or recycle the waste they generate at a private dwelling.

Section 8.24.090 sets the curbside window: containers go at curbside no earlier than twenty-four hours before the scheduled collection time and come off within twenty-four hours after pickup. They then go in a side or rear yard or inside a building, structure or enclosure that minimizes or substantially obstructs the toter from public view. If a particular hardship exists, the toter can sit in an inconspicuous location within five feet of the front of the residence, completely inside that five-foot area.

Container rules sit in section 8.24.060. Only city-owned or city-approved containers can hold waste for collection, the number collected per week cannot exceed the containers billed to the residence, and an exchange for a different size carries a thirty dollar fee. Section 8.24.270 declares nuisances: setting a container out more than twenty-four hours early, keeping a container open with the lid off, and putting trash out in cardboard boxes or paper sacks.