Council Bluffs, IA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

CBMC 4.12.060 requires each residential customer to place properly prepared solid waste for collection at curbside immediately in front of the residence, and it must sit within five feet of the curb on a paved street or within five feet of the traveled portion on an unpaved street; where alley collection is authorized, it must be within five feet of the paved or traveled alley portion. Corner-lot residents may pick which street to use with the administrative authority's concurrence, and the administrative authority can approve an alternate site where terrain makes the standard spot impractical.

Waste must go out between 7:00 p.m. the day before collection and 7:00 a.m. on collection day, with the city assigning each address to a collection sector and schedule. Once collected, empty carts, bags and containers cannot remain at the collection point, in the right-of-way, or in the front yard setback past midnight of the collection day, though CBMC 4.12.120 allows an appeal-based exception where an impracticable hardship prevents compliance with the siting rules. Containers must also be stored so water cannot collect in them.