Harrisburg, PA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Chapter 9-305 of the Harrisburg Codified Ordinances, adopted by City Council in 2018 as Ord. No. 5-2018, governs recycling in the City of Harrisburg, and Section 9-305.3 is the disposal rule. The Director of Public Works (DPW) runs disposal and holds the authority to set days of operation, receiving hours, receptacle and conveyance type, and the list of acceptable and unacceptable recycling material. Section 9-305.1 adds that the designated list is set by the Director's rules and regulations, and that the City reserves the right to add or remove an item at any time upon notification of the public. So the list of what counts as recyclable lives in the DPW rules, not in the ordinance text itself.

The core prohibition is short: material designated as recyclable and required to be source separated shall not be disposed of as municipal waste. That sentence is the basis for the citations in Chapter 9-309, which treat putting a non-designated or prohibited material in a recycling or waste receptacle as a failure to source-separate.

Subsection C protects the resale market. Any resident of the City may donate or sell any recyclable to any other person, whether the recipient operates for a profit or not for profit. The catch is curbside pickup: the person receiving the material shall not, under any circumstances, collect it from the curbside without prior written permission from the City. Scavenging the blue-cart stream is therefore barred unless the City signs off.

Subsection D of the same section separately bans open burning of recyclable material and leaf waste in the City. Section 9-305.4 states that the curbside recycling program is free to City residents and commercial businesses and that participation is mandatory. Section 9-305.5 directs DPW to send recycling and yard waste program information to residents and businesses, including direct mailings at least biannually.