Ames, IA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Ames Municipal Code Sec. 10.1 defines yard waste as grass clippings, leaves, garden waste, brush and trees, but specifically excludes tree stumps, which the city treats as ordinary bulky debris rather than yard waste. Sec. 10.7 sets the physical presentation standard for the brush and tree-trimming portion of that category: bundles capped at four feet in length and two feet in diameter, tied with a biodegradable cord such as hemp, sisal or cotton rather than wire or plastic twine, with no single branch or trimming exceeding three inches in diameter.

The same section bars mixing yard waste into a recycling or garbage container, which matters because Sec. 10.8(3) gives yard waste its own separate disposal track: delivery to a licensed collection agency or city disposal facility, open burning consistent with the fire rules in Chapter 8, or delivery for composting or land application under Sec. 10.24, which requires leaves and grass hauled to another site to be spread evenly within seventy-two hours and handled under Iowa Department of Natural Resources composting rules. Sec. 10.9 otherwise caps how long any waste can sit on private property at seven days, but it carves out yard waste specifically: it may be kept on the property longer than seven days if composting is actually underway, recognizing that a homeowner's own compost pile is not the same violation as an abandoned brush pile.