Philadelphia, PA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 10-717(1) prohibits placing Municipal Waste or Recyclable Materials in the right-of-way or at a pickup location except under collection regulations the Streets Department adopts covering designated collectible waste, container types, quantity and weight limits, and set-out dates and times. Subsection (1)(c) names the recyclables residents must separate: paper (including mixed paper and office paper), plastic bottles and containers, aluminum, steel and bi-metallic cans, corrugated cardboard, glass bottles and jars, and leaves. Subsection (2) makes the separation duty explicit: all owners and persons in control of any premises must separate designated Recyclable Materials from Municipal Waste set out for City collection.

Not every property gets city pickup. 1 limits eligibility for regular City refuse, recycling and bulk collection to buildings with six or fewer occupied units, condominiums, and cooperatives, and imposes an annual $500 neighborhood sanitation and cleaning fee on eligible properties, with exemptions for single-family homes, condos, cooperatives, and owners who show they already contract a private hauler. Section 10-717(3) requires every property that is either ineligible for City collection or eligible but not using it to contract with one or more private haulers for both waste and recyclables.

Enforcement runs through Section 10-718: the Department, Licenses and Inspections inspectors, and third-party administrators may issue a Code Violation Notice under Section 1-112, with a standard $50 stipulated settlement amount unless the section falls under one of the chapter's named exceptions. 1 draw different penalties.