Rochester Hills, MI Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Chapter 86, Article II of the Rochester Hills Code governs recycling and refuse generally. Section 86-27 makes it unlawful to store or dispose of solid waste, recyclable material or yard clippings except as the chapter expressly authorizes, so a resident cannot burn, bury or dump waste on-site outside the storage and disposal rules in sections 86-30 and 86-31. Section 86-28 declares that once solid waste, recyclable materials or yard clippings are placed at curbside or another designated collection point, they become the property of the licensed waste hauler under contract with the city; it is unlawful for anyone other than that licensed hauler, or the generator who set the material out, to collect it.

This closes off curbside scavenging of cans, bottles or scrap. Section 86-29 separately bars dumping waste on someone else's property or mixing it into a neighbor's curbside pile. Enforcement of Articles II and III runs through the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, the city building department and enforcement officers the mayor designates, per section 86-104(a). Under section 86-104(b), a violation is declared a nuisance per se that the city council can seek to abate in court. Section 86-104(c)(1) sets the penalty for single-family owners or occupants at a $25.00 municipal civil infraction fine, and section 86-104(c)(3) makes each day a violation continues a separate offense. Waste haulers who violate the article face civil-infraction sanctions under section 1-16(c) and risk suspension or revocation of their license for repeated violations.