Littleton, CO Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 7-2-4 lays out what a Littleton resident must do to prepare garbage, refuse or rubbish for pickup before a collector ever arrives. Subsection (A) requires the responsible party of any premises producing garbage, refuse or rubbish to place it in a trash container in the first place, rather than setting loose bags or loose materials at the curb. Subsection (B) requires that everything be drained of liquid before it is deposited for collection, which keeps leachate out of trucks and off streets and prevents the sanitation hazards the nuisance chapter is designed to avoid.

Subsection (C) requires that all trash fit securely into the container with the lid closed for collection, so an overflowing can with the lid propped open on trash day does not meet the ordinance's standard even if everything technically made it into the container. These three requirements work together with the scattering and right-of-way rules in subsections (D) and (E): a resident who overfills a can, leaves the lid open, or fails to drain liquid waste is the same responsible party who will bear the cleanup duty and possible nuisance citation if that trash spills or attracts pests before the collector arrives.