Rochester, NY Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Refuse Code § 20-15G and H address lawn debris separately from bulk refuse. Grass clippings and other lawn trimmings that aren't composted may simply be placed in a City-issued container, an alternate container or plastic bags along with regular residential refuse and are collected on the normal weekly schedule. Leaves get their own rule: the Department authorizes backyard composting of leaves at any time, and leaves that aren't composted may be left in loose piles between the sidewalk and the curb, or alongside the roadway, for a single, one-time City collection each year that runs between October 15 and November 30.

Outside that annual window, uncomposted leaves have to go into alternate containers or plastic bags rather than being piled loose at the curb; loose leaf piles left outside the seasonal window aren't collected as leaves and can be treated as improperly prepared refuse. Plastic bags used for lawn cuttings or leaves are subject to the same general container rules in § 20-12F: bags must be waterproof, strong and securely tied, sharp objects can't go in them, and total bagged weight is capped at 30 pounds.

As with all refuse, yard waste can only be set out between the sidewalk and curb in front of the premises where it originated, no earlier than the night before the scheduled collection.