Stratford, CT Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 182-5(A) puts the container burden on the owner. The owner of each premises where solid waste is created must provide, at a suitable place on the premises, sufficient receptacles to hold waste between collections. Waste goes in watertight, tightly covered cans, containers or plastic bags, or in a manner acceptable to the Director of Public Works. The standard unit of collection for household solid waste is the twenty- and thirty-gallon container, and no receptacle can weigh more than 75 pounds when full. Containers must be kept in good condition, free of holes and fissures, with securely fitting covers.

Cartons get their own limit in § 182-5(A)(1): collapsed and tied in bundles weighing not more than 50 pounds, with no dimension in excess of three feet in length and not in excess of two feet in diameter. Brush has a separate bundling rule in § 182-5(A)(2).

Section 182-5(B) requires owners to replace containers promptly when they are no longer fit for use. A nonconforming container deemed a sanitary or accident hazard by the Director of Health or an authorized agent can be confiscated by the Town and disposed of without compensation. Section 182-5(E) makes it unlawful for anyone other than the tenants or occupants of the premises, or the regularly authorized agents, employees or licensees of the Town, to disturb refuse containers, remove covers or contents, or scatter contents on lawns, sidewalks or streets.

Other pickup limits apply in the Town of Stratford. Items designated for mandatory recycling under Chapter 165 must be separated and prepared for collection, and any collector must refuse solid waste that contains them (§ 182-3(B)). Hazardous wastes cannot go into any refuse container (§ 182-6(C)), and refuse from homes where highly infectious or contagious diseases prevailed is handled under the supervision of the Director of Health, not in regular containers (§ 182-6(E)). Set-out timing is a separate rule in § 182-5(C).