Burleson, TX Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Burleson Code of Ordinances § 82-91 carries the placement and offense rules for recycling in the City of Burleson, Texas. Subsection (b) requires recycling carts to be placed at or near the curb line, a minimum of four feet from any mailbox, vehicle, obstacle or other container, and the cart goes in the street with its wheels against the curb or edge of pavement. The city manager or designee can make reasonable exceptions to the location requirements on a customer's request to meet unique circumstances. Garbage containers follow a different standard in § 82-83(c), which uses a five-foot curbside zone.

Subsection (f) creates the theft offense: a person commits an offense by removing or causing the removal of recyclables from a recycling container placed for collection. Two exceptions follow. Under (g), it is an exception to enforcement that the person was a member of the household that placed the recyclables for collection, or a sanitation worker employed by the collector who is engaged in city household collection service. Under (h), a peace officer acting in an official capacity is exempt from subsection (f). The same protection against scavenging is in § 82-87 for garbage containers, which also exempts city employees, franchised or licensed collectors and the owner of the real property where the container sits.

Subsection (i) creates the contamination offense. A person commits an offense by placing prohibited material in a recycling cart for collection in violation of the section, or by allowing prohibited material placed in a cart set out for collection to remain on property under his or her control.

Set-out timing comes from § 82-83(b): recyclables go to the curb no earlier than 7:00 p.m. on the day before collection, with a 7:00 a.m. collection-day target, and the customer removes the container and any unaccepted recyclables from the curb by 8:00 a.m. on the day after collection. Reusable containers need completely closed lids at all times during storage and curbside placement under (b)(5).