Chicopee, MA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 169-13(F) of the Chicopee Code is the yard waste rule. Yard waste must be placed at the curb in an accessible location, separate from garbage, rubbish and recyclables, in accordance with the City's yard waste pickup schedule. Grass, leaves, garden clippings and small twigs must go in a standard legal container for yard waste: paper lawn or leaf bags, small cardboard boxes or a thirty-two-gallon legal container. Small branches of three-inch diameter or less should be tied in bundles of four feet or less. All yard waste should be kept dry and protected from the weather before collection, and the weight of any bag, box, barrel or bundle cannot exceed 75 pounds.

The chapter's definition of yard rubbish and yard waste covers prunings, grass clippings, weeds, leaves, tree branches up to and including three inches in diameter, and general yard and garden wastes. The definition of standard legal container includes any yard waste bag or container the City specifically approves. The definition of rubbish adds that portions banned from landfill disposal, including recyclables and yard waste, must be separated in accordance with Chapter 223 (Recycling) and the rules of the Superintendent of Public Works, under the direction of the Mayor and City Council.

Timing follows the general set-out rule in § 169-10: containers go out no earlier than 12 hours before the scheduled collection day, must be out by 7:00 a.m., must sit on public property accessible to City collection vehicles, and emptied containers come off public property the same day. This section prints no calendar of yard waste dates, so the schedule is the City's separate yard waste pickup schedule. Section 169-11(D)(1) also lets a person gather and remove refuse or cuttings generated by construction, landscaping or gardening on the property when they have not been set out for City or licensed private collection.