Hoboken, NJ Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Article III of Hoboken's refuse chapter, headed "Precollection Practice," tells residents exactly how waste has to be prepared before it reaches the curb. Section 110-11 requires that ashes, meaning the residue from burning wood, coal or other combustible material, be soaked in water first and then placed in a receptacle kept separate from the containers used for garbage and rubbish, a rule aimed at stopping smoldering ash from starting a fire in a collection truck. Section 110-12 covers wet waste: garbage and rubbish that is wet has to be drained of all liquids and wrapped in paper before it goes into a collection receptacle, preventing leakage onto sidewalks and stairwells the Department of Public Works otherwise has to clean up. A companion rule in the same article, § 110-16, requires fluorescent and mercury lamps to be completely wrapped in cardboard or heavy paper and labeled "fluorescent lamp" in large letters, because of the mercury they contain.

These precollection duties fall on owners, agents, tenants and occupants alike under § 110-30, and an occupant is liable for a violation whenever they have the power to prevent or abate it, including violations caused by a family member, household member or guest, per § 110-32. Enforcement runs through the Department of Public Works, defined as "the Department" throughout Chapter 110, and through the Municipal Court for the fines set out in § 110-55.