Minnetonka, MN Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 835.015 of the Minnetonka City Code sets the preparation rules for waste collection in the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, and its first subdivision singles out yard waste. Yard waste must be placed in bags or bundles not exceeding three feet in any dimension and securely fastened to avoid spillage. The same subdivision requires waste to be drained of liquids, wrapped or bagged, and kept in containers for collection by a licensed collector, and requires source-separated organics and recyclables to be kept in separate containers.

The definition in section 835.005 matters for what counts. Yard waste means material that can be composted, such as leaves, grass clippings, garden plants and other similar forms of organic material, but it excludes brush, bushes, branches, trees, or similar large material. The definition of organic materials also states that organics exclude yard waste regulated by Minn. Stat. § 115A.931, so yard waste is a separate stream from the weekly organics collection in section 835.010.

Setout timing follows the general waste rules. Waste must be deposited adjacent to the street or alley the collector uses, in one place at ground level and off the traveled roadway, and it cannot be put out before sunset of the day before collection. It cannot remain adjacent to a street or alley longer than 24 hours if not collected. Subdivision 7 requires waste, yard waste, recyclables, organic materials and their containers to be out of the public view except on the day of collection and the evening before.

Collection itself is a hauler service. Under section 835.040, each licensed collector providing residential trash collection service can separately collect and dispose of yard waste between April and November. The city council can set a reimbursement by resolution for collectors providing yard waste collection during that period, and if reimbursement is authorized, a collector must not charge a customer an additional amount for the required yard waste collection. The city fire code provision on materials burned (307.4.4) also states that no trash, brush, leaves or treated lumber may be burned in a recreational fire.