Columbus, IN Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Columbus Municipal Code § 8.24.210 governs grass and leaves in the City of Columbus, Indiana. All grass and leaves must be placed in a city-owned or city-approved container, as described in § 8.24.070, and are collected curbside only by composting crews. Composting routes run one day after the regular sanitation routes, except that Friday is collected on Monday. The material has to be free of any trash, twigs, garden waste or other debris, and the section says the service will be supplemented by a fall loose leaf composting program.

Section 8.24.010 defines yard waste broadly: all vegetative matter including grass, weeds, leaves, brush, tree trimmings, hedge clippings and garden waste. Brush and trimmings are therefore yard waste under the definition, but only grass and leaves are assigned to the composting crews in § 8.24.210. Tree cuttings put out for collection fall under § 8.24.130, which caps them at six feet in length and requires them to be piled neatly and free of any other solid waste.

Responsibility for excess falls on the generator. Under § 8.24.030, any excess accumulation of solid waste or yard waste by residents on private streets in for profit residential establishments is disposed of by and at the expense of the establishment creating it, and yard waste generated by contractors at a private dwelling must be removed and disposed of or recycled by the contractor or the residents.

Set-out timing follows the toter rule in § 8.24.090: containers go to the curb no earlier than twenty-four hours before collection and come back within twenty-four hours after pickup. Lids must stay attached and closed on containers holding garbage or refuse under § 8.24.100. Section 8.24.220 also bars disposing of solid waste in any place within the city other than sites authorized by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.