Brookhaven, NY Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Chapter 46 defines "vegetative yard waste" as "organic yard and garden waste, leaves, grass clippings and brush" (§ 46-4) and lists it among the designated recyclables the Town Board may add to the curbside program by resolution (§ 46-5D(1)(d)). Where a garbage district's curbside program has been expanded to include it, commercial, industrial and institutional establishments must source-separate vegetative yard waste and arrange for its recycling within 180 days of that expansion (§ 46-9B(5)). For everyone else, § 46-10 keeps the rule simple: nothing in the chapter stops a property owner from using their own yard waste for compost, mulch, or agricultural, horticultural, silvicultural, gardening or landscaping purposes, meaning residents are free to manage brush and clippings on-site rather than setting them out.

The Department of Recycling and Sustainable Materials Management administers whatever curbside pickup does exist for yard waste (§ 46-11), and the same general unlawful-conduct and unseparated-waste provisions that apply to newspaper and cans under §§ 46-12 and 46-13 apply equally once yard waste is added to a district's program.