Issaquah, WA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

IMC 8.04.020(A) applies to every person in possession, charge or control of any dwelling or real property where garbage is created or accumulated. That person shall have portable cans or approved metal dumpsters of a size, type and construction approved by the Director, and shall deposit the garbage in them. Under IMC 8.04.010(B) the Director is the Director of Public Works or his designee, so container approval runs through Public Works, not the hauler.

What counts as garbage is set by IMC 8.04.010(C): refuse, rubbish, ashes, swill, and all other putrescible and nonputrescible wastes from all public and private establishments and residences. The definition excludes sewage and hazardous, toxic and petroleum wastes, so those never go out with the weekly pickup under chapter 8.04.

IMC 8.04.020(C) covers material that is not practicable to place in cans. It can be securely bundled or bagged so that none of the materials blows about and so the bundle is not easily broken apart. The test is practical: a bag that splits at the curb or a bundle that comes apart in wind fails it.

Two neighboring sections sharpen the pickup rules. IMC 8.04.060 makes it unlawful to deposit in any garbage receptacle burning materials, or materials sufficiently hot to create combustion when they touch other garbage. IMC 8.04.040 requires all garbage to be removed at least once weekly from occupied residential premises, and IMC 8.04.120 lets residents use the garbage collector under contract with the City, or City services if the City elects to be the collector, on the schedule and routes the City determines and approves.

IMC 8.04.020(D) requires an unrestricted overhead clearance of not less than 10 feet on walks, paths and driveways between the storage area and the place of loading, and IMC 8.04.020(B) governs where and when cans are placed for the collector.