North Hempstead, NY Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)
Key Facts
- Separation duty
- Source-separate yard waste per § 46-11.1
- Disposal destination
- Town-designated Solid Waste Management Facility
- Home composting
- Expressly permitted on private property
- Commingling with trash
- Prohibited for Collectors
- Fall bag-timing exemption
- Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 under § 34-3
Summary
North Hempstead requires residents to separate yard waste from other trash for curbside pickup and to send it to a Town-designated disposal facility, while expressly allowing homeowners to compost or mulch leaves and clippings on their own property instead.
C. Requirements for Preparation, Collection and Disposal of Residential Yard Waste. (1) In order to provide for public health and safety, Residents shall prepare Yard Waste for collection in accordance with § 46-11.1 of this chapter. (2) All Yard Waste placed at Curbside for collection must be delivered to a publicly owned Solid Waste Management Facility designated by the Commissioner. (3) This section shall not prohibit private, noncommercial composting of Yard Waste or mulching of leaves, grass clippings and cuttings. (4) No Collector may commingle Yard Waste with Acceptable Waste placed at Curbside.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4892187; v82 updated 2026-04-21; through 04-21-2026).
Full Breakdown
1's mandatory source-separation program and requires that all yard waste placed at curbside for collection be delivered to a publicly owned Solid Waste Management Facility designated by the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works. The section, last amended by Local Law No. 2-2010 and again in 2021, expressly preserves a homeowner's right to private, noncommercial composting of yard waste or mulching of leaves, grass clippings and cuttings on their own property rather than setting it out. It also bars a licensed Collector from commingling yard waste with regular acceptable waste once it is placed at curbside, a rule added in 2021 to keep the separated stream intact through pickup.
Chapter 34's litter provisions dovetail with this: § 34-3 exempts cans or plastic bags of yard waste from the normal curbside timing restriction between October 1 and December 31 each year, covering the fall leaf season. 2 that folds yard waste into the materials residents there must source-separate for collection.
Violations & Fines
Placing yard waste for collection anywhere other than at the generating property, commingling it into a Dumpster Container designated for other waste, or dumping it on public or private property is a violation of Chapter 46, Article II under § 46-14G. A general Chapter 46 violation carries a fine of up to $5,000 or 15 days imprisonment for a first offense, rising to a fine of up to $10,000 for a second offense within three years and up to $25,000 for a third or subsequent offense within three years, under § 46-6.1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I compost my leaves instead of putting them at the curb in North Hempstead?
Where does curbside yard waste have to go once it's collected?
Do apartment and condo complexes have separate yard waste rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in North Hempstead
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