Olmsted County, MN Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Ch. 3500 § 3505.03, Collection Requirements
- Mandatory
- Hauler contract or registered self-haul required
- Exempt
- Agricultural Sites only
- Self-haul receipts
- Must keep for 180 days
- Commercial self-haulers
- Must register under § 3504.05
- Fee basis
- Haulers bill by volume or weight
Summary
Every commercial and residential property in Olmsted County, except farms, must either hire a Licensed Hauler for trash pickup or register as a Self-Hauler under Section 3505.03 of the Solid Waste Management Ordinance. Self-haulers must deliver waste to a county-designated disposal point and keep disposal receipts for 180 days, and licensed haulers set fees by volume or weight.
Every Commercial and Residential Site in Olmsted County, excluding Agricultural Sites, shall engage a Licensed Hauler for the Collection of Designated Waste or act as a Self-Hauler. Commercial Sites that are Self-Haulers must be Registered Haulers pursuant to section 3504.05. Persons acting as Self-Haulers must transport Designated Waste to a Designated Point of Delivery and retain the receipts of disposal for one hundred and eighty (180) days.
Full Breakdown
03 requires every Commercial and Residential Site in the county, other than Agricultural Sites, to arrange for waste collection: either by engaging a Licensed Hauler for Designated Waste or by acting as a Self-Hauler. 05 before hauling its own waste. Any Self-Hauler, commercial or residential, has to take the waste to a Designated Point of Delivery, meaning an authorized disposal or processing facility, and keep the disposal receipts for one hundred eighty days in case the Environmental Resources Department asks to see them. Licensed Haulers set their collection fees on a volume or weight basis rather than a flat rate, a structure the ordinance says is meant to give households and businesses a financial incentive to generate less Mixed Municipal Solid Waste.
12. Agricultural Sites are the one category the mandatory-service rule does not reach, though they remain subject to the separate storage and open-burning restrictions elsewhere in the ordinance. 01.
Violations & Fines
Failing to engage a Licensed Hauler or properly register as a Self-Hauler under Section 3505.03 is a violation of the Solid Waste Management Ordinance in its own right. The Environmental Resources Department can pursue it as a civil Notice of Violation under Chapter 4000, with escalating penalties for repeat violations, or, for the most serious cases, as a misdemeanor under Section 3511.01 carrying up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I required to pay for trash pickup in Olmsted County?
Can I take my own trash to the dump instead of using a hauler?
Why do trash haulers in Olmsted County charge by weight or volume?
Do farms in Olmsted County have to hire a trash hauler?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Olmsted County
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