Waco, TX Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Sec. 21-22 governs how Waco residents must prepare trash before it goes to the curb. Subsection (a) issues each qualifying single-family or duplex service unit one 95-gallon grey cart, with extra carts available on request for a fee, and requires that trash placed for collection be contained in disposable plastic bags that are securely tied inside the cart; multifamily properties may get grey carts at the director's discretion under subsection (b). Subsection (c) bars mixing streams: no yard waste may go in the grey trash cart or the blue recycling cart, or loose in a plastic bag meant for one of those carts.

Subsection (d) sets out special handling for injurious materials: broken glass, hypodermic needles, sawdust, ashes and similarly hazardous items must be wrapped securely and labeled as to contents so sanitation workers are not cut or exposed; animal excrement must be bagged and tied; a dead animal under five pounds can go out only if wrapped in newspaper, taped shut, placed in a trash bag and labeled, and the collector may refuse any dead animal that poses a health risk; ashes must be cold before bagging; liquids must be drained from refuse and containers before collection; and containers that held household chemicals must be triple-rinsed and rendered unusable first.

Subsection (e) makes it unlawful to place trash in violation of the section or to let improperly placed trash remain on the property, and subsection (f) separately bars removing solid waste that someone else has already set out for collection, with exceptions in subsection (g) for the household itself, city sanitation workers, and peace officers acting in an official capacity.