Abilene, TX Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 27-5 of the Abilene Code defines yard waste broadly to include tree trimmings, grass cuttings, dead plants, weeds, leaves, branches and dead trees. Section 27-26(4)(d) then draws the line for the everyday cart: unbagged leaves, grass clippings, shrubbery trimmings, and tree prunings may not be placed in a residential solid waste collection container, so loose yard debris has to be bagged before it goes in the cart with the rest of household trash. Larger material goes out instead as bulky waste under Section 27-23, which keeps yard waste separate: subsection (5) bars commingling bulky waste with yard waste or other municipal solid waste, subsection (8) requires tree limbs to be cut to four feet or less, and subsection (9) requires any tree trunk, stump, or root ball to be free of dirt, under four feet long, and under fifty pounds.

Fencing and fence posts set out the same way must be cut into four-foot lengths, stripped of protruding nails, and neatly stacked, with concrete bases removed by the occupant beforehand. Placement timing tracks the regular bulky waste schedule: alley collection material can go out no sooner than ten days before the published pickup date for that route, and curb collection material no sooner than forty-eight hours before the monthly schedule. Section 27-31 treats a violation of these chapter 27 rules as a nuisance under Chapter 19, so enforcement runs through the City's nuisance and illegal-dumping process rather than a standalone solid-waste fine.