DeKalb County, GA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)
Key Facts
- Container required
- Approved yard-trimmings receptacle
- Plastic bags
- Not allowed for trimmings
- Governing section
- Code § 22-35
- Area
- Unincorporated DeKalb only
Summary
Unincorporated DeKalb County residents must keep yard trimmings separate from household trash and set them out in an approved yard-trimmings receptacle, not a plastic bag.
(b)Yard trimmings shall not be placed in or mixed with municipal solid waste;(c)Yard trimmings shall not be disposed at municipal solid waste disposal facilities having liners and leachate collection systems or requiring vertical expansion;(d)Yard trimmings shall be sorted and stored for collection in such a manner as to facilitate collection, composting, or other handling;(e)Yard trimmings shall be sorted and stockpiled or chipped, composted, used as mulch, or otherwise beneficially reused or recycled to the maximum extent feasible;(f)It shall be the duty of the occupant or owner of any premises to separate yard trimmings from all other municipal solid waste;(g)Yard trimmings shall not be placed in a plastic bag but shall be placed in an "approved receptacle for yard trimmings" as defined in this chapter. All other requirements of this chapter regarding containing yard trimmings and refuse shall apply. (Ord. No. 96-13, § 1, 8-13-96)
Secs. 22-36—22-50. - Reserved.
Full Breakdown
Section 22-35 requires occupants to separate yard trimmings from municipal solid waste, bars mixing them with regular trash or dumping them at lined landfill facilities, and requires trimmings to go in an approved yard-trimmings receptacle rather than a plastic bag so they can be composted, mulched or otherwise recycled. Applies in unincorporated DeKalb only.
Violations & Fines
Bagging trimmings in plastic or mixing them into regular garbage violates section 22-35 and is treated as a violation of the county's refuse chapter, subject to the general penalty in section 1-10.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put yard trimmings in a regular trash bag in DeKalb County?
Can yard waste go in with my household garbage?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in DeKalb County
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