Renton, WA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

RMC 8-1-2 defines "yard wastes" to include "leaves, grass, pruning and clippings of woody as well as fleshy plants," but excludes anything larger than two inches in diameter and four feet in length. Christmas trees qualify for yard waste collection only if "cut into lengths of 4 feet or less and bundled" before being set out. Yard waste must be accumulated in a City-approved "yard waste cart" at curbside or another approved point, though compost piles that are properly maintained and free of vectors and off-property odor are exempt from the general storage prohibition under RMC 8-1-4(C).

Like recycling, "collection of recyclables and yard waste shall be voluntary" under RMC 8-1-1, and RMC 8-1-3(F) allows any person to collect residential yard waste until it reaches the curb: "once residential yard waste is placed at the curbside or other approved point of collection, then residential yard waste may be collected only by the City's collection contractor." Taking someone else's yard waste cart contents after that point is unlawful scavenging under RMC 8-1-4(N).

RMC 8-1-8(B) sets weekly yard waste collection on the same day as regular garbage pickup, except mobile home courts, which get service only by separate agreement between the City and its contractor. Carts must be placed curbside no earlier than 24 hours before collection and removed within 24 hours after, per RMC 8-1-3(C), and returned adjacent to the residence or inside an enclosed structure.