Troy, NY Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 234-3(B)(2) of the Troy City Code splits recycling service by building type. The City designates the Department of General Services, or a contractor, to collect recyclables. That collector picks up from any property with three or fewer residential units unless the owner has an approved contract with a firm holding a City solid waste collection permit. For four or more residential units the Commissioner can choose to collect, after approving a written application and receiving all applicable fees. The City will not, by reason of the enactment, unilaterally discontinue service to a property it served on the enactment date, except for nonpayment of fees or other lawful reason.

"Residential premises" means a building with one to three residential units and excludes a hotel, motel, hospital, dormitory, fraternity, sorority, boarding house or nonprofit facility providing client housing services (§ 234-2). Each owner of such a property is offered a recyclable collection basket for each residential unit, the first free. Additional or replacement baskets are made available according to a schedule of charges set by the Commissioner, and the baskets stay City property. Section 247-8(C)(2) adds that recyclables are collected on the same schedule as garbage, must be placed in a City-approved container, and are not collected when put out outside City-issued containers.

Owners of properties with more than three units, and owners of any nonresidential property that generates recyclables, must contract for recycling with a permitted hauler, provide and maintain a neat and sanitary storage area, and size containers to hold what the property generates between scheduled collections. A mixed-use property meets every applicable requirement. Every collection device must be approved by the Commissioner before use; approved examples include sixty-, ninety- and three-hundred-and-sixty-gallon automated containers and twelve-, fourteen- and eighteen-gallon color-coded boxes. Haulers pay a $200 per vehicle permit fee (§ 247-6), and owners with a qualifying contract covering both trash and recycling can apply for exemption from the solid waste management fee (§ 247-8(C)(7)(d)).