Palatine, IL Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Sec. 16-3(a)(1) requires that all refuse and recyclable materials go into the wheeled carts the village's contractor supplies, set out at the curb on the household's regular collection day. Anything that overflows the cart must be bagged rather than left loose, and Sec. 16-3(a)(2) caps every bag of refuse at 50 pounds; bulk items too big for the cart or a bag, per Sec. 16-1's definition, skip the bag requirement and go straight to the curb. Sec. 16-3(f) reinforces the containment rule for every waste stream: refuse, recyclables, landscape waste and remodeling waste alike must be in a cart, bag or bundle, and none of it may sit loose or unsecured where wind can scatter it.

A separate, hard list of materials not collected in Sec. 16-3(d) removes several categories from curbside service entirely: excluded hazardous, radioactive, corrosive, flammable, explosive, biomedical, infectious or toxic waste; earth, rocks and concrete; commercial remodeling or construction debris; tree limbs, stumps or logs over four inches in diameter; tires; liquid waste; potentially infectious medical waste; white goods; electronic waste; and anything else the Illinois Environmental Protection Act bars from collection. Remodeling waste gets its own two-cubic-yard cap under Sec. 16-3(c) and must likewise be carted, bagged or bundled at no more than 50 pounds per bag or bundle.

Together these rules mean a resident's weekly cart, plus any bagged overflow or bundled excess, is the only lawful way to present ordinary household refuse for pickup; anything outside those containers, or on the excluded-materials list, has to go to a licensed private hauler or a permitted disposal facility instead.