Sterling Heights, MI Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Sterling Heights requires every single-family home, duplex, residential condominium and townhouse to set recyclables at the curb only in the 65-gallon cart the city's waste contractor supplies, a rule effective May 1, 2024 under Code of Ordinances Section 23-2(B). Refuse goes in a separate 95-gallon cart under Section 23-2(A), and yard waste in a 39-gallon paper bag or a 95-gallon cart under Section 23-2(C). Residential condominium complexes that were not receiving curbside refuse, recycling or yard waste collection before May 1, 2024 are exempt from these cart rules under Section 23-2(D); those complexes instead place refuse in a mechanical container from the city's waste contractor, or in pre-assembled 95-gallon carts if the city allows it, for pickup at the complex's common areas. If such a complex later adds curbside service, it must switch to the standard cart system and buy the required carts from the contractor.

Section 23-9 sets the mechanics around cart use: recycling, refuse and yard waste must be at the curb by 7:00 a.m. on collection day, may not be set out before 1:00 p.m. the afternoon before (3:00 p.m. on Fridays), and empty carts must be pulled back from the curb within ten hours after pickup. Between collections, carts may sit outside in the approved receptacle, but loose refuse cannot be stored in a front yard as defined by Section 31.01 of the zoning ordinance. Section 23-22 presumes the owner or occupant of the property abutting the right-of-way generated whatever waste was set out there, using the most recent city tax roll to identify the owner. Anyone disputing an enforcement determination under this chapter, including a cart-type violation, can appeal to the Board of Ordinance Appeals under Section 23-23, which may modify the requirement where literal enforcement would cause unnecessary hardship.