Dubuque, IA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Beyond deciding what counts as recyclable, Dubuque's code spells out what happens when a household does not follow the rules. Section 13-6A-4(C) gives the City discretion to act on chronic contamination: when a customer's recycling container is frequently contaminated with nonrecyclable material and the problem persists, the City may remove the container outright and stop the weekly collection to that address rather than keep picking up a contaminated load. That enforcement tool sits alongside the ownership rule in Section 13-6A-9, which applies to every material the City collects under this article, recyclables included: from the moment solid waste, recyclable materials, or recycling containers are set out for collection under Section 13-6A-8, they become City property, and it is a violation of that section for anyone other than authorized City personnel to collect, pick up, or cause them to be collected or picked up.

That combination means a resident cannot simply let someone else pick through a recycling container at the curb, and a household that repeatedly contaminates its recycling risks losing the service and the container itself rather than just receiving a warning. Recycling containers removed for contamination or scavenged in violation of Section 13-6A-9 are handled through the same Public Works process that governs the rest of the refuse collection article, since Chapter 6, Article A treats trash, recycling and organics as one integrated collection system rather than separate ordinances.