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

Seattle Municipal Code § 21.36.085 opens with a flat rule: yardwaste cannot be mixed with garbage, refuse or rubbish for disposal. Three subsections then split the duty by where the material ends up.

Curbside program. Compostable waste set out for the City's curbside collection must be set apart from refuse in a manner that is readily identifiable by the collectors. The section borrows its definition of compostable waste from § 21.36.012: organic waste materials that are source separated for processing or composting, such as yard waste and food waste. For curbside pickup there is one added limit: wood or tree limbs over four feet long are not collected. Only compostable waste generated at the dwelling unit is collected at curbside, so material hauled in from another property is outside the program.

Transfer stations. Yardwaste delivered to a City transfer station must be separated from garbage, refuse and rubbish and deposited in the area designated for yardwaste. The definition comes from § 21.36.016: plant material such as leaves, grass clippings, branches, brush, flowers, roots and wood waste, plus yard and garden debris including sod and rocks not over 4 inches in diameter. It excludes loose soils, food waste, plastics and synthetic fibers, lumber, any wood or tree limbs over 4 inches in diameter, human or animal excrement, and soil contaminated with hazardous substances. At the transfer station the length cutoff is eight feet, double the curbside figure.

Plastic bags. Subsection C bars setting compostable waste out at the curb in plastic bags and bars depositing plastic bags containing yardwaste in transfer station yardwaste collection areas or transfer trailers.

Bundles and cans. Under § 21.36.010 a bundle-of-yardwaste is yardwaste placed in a container or securely tied so that none of it blows away or falls out upon lifting and so it is not easily broken apart. Its longest dimension cannot exceed 4 feet, its diameter cannot exceed 2 feet, and its weight cannot exceed 60 pounds. A can under § 21.36.012 holds no more than 32 gallons and weighs no more than 60 pounds for each 32 gallons of nominal capacity. Section 21.36.050(C) confirms that yardwaste can be set out for separate curbside collection but cannot be mixed with other solid waste. Ordinance 127322 amended the bundle and yardwaste definitions in 2025.