New Orleans, LA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 138-63 sets the recycling service charge: $1.00 per month for each residential unit and each business, professional, or service office (outside exempt multi-residential structures), and $2.00 per month for commercial, industrial and manufacturing establishments. The charge is collected by the property owner from the service recipient and billed through the Sewerage and Water Board water/sewerage bill; a payment missed by the due date draws a ten percent penalty. The Director of Finance issues a 12-month exemption certificate to any head of household who is 65 or older and whose income falls at or below HUD's low-income standard, renewable annually with proof of age (state ID, driver's license, birth certificate) and income (SSI card, Medicaid card, food-stamp ID, or SSA award letter).

Property owners can also get an annual exemption under subsection (e) by swearing that a private company already provides regular refuse and recycling collection at the address, but "all private recycling programs must have a waste reductions goal of 25 percent, consistent with applicable state law," certified in the sworn application. Anti-scavenging protections in the adjoining section 66-288 reinforce the curbside program: once recyclables are placed in a city-provided bin at the designated collection location on the scheduled day, they become the property of the authorized recycling contractor, and unauthorized removal is a separate offense.