South Bend, IN Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)
Key Facts
- Weekly service
- City container required, plastic bags banned
- Loose branch limit
- Under 2 inches for weekly pickup
- Bundled limb limit
- 48-inch lengths, max 6-inch diameter
- In-city tipping fee
- $3.65 per cubic yard
- Out-of-city tipping fee
- $11.00 per cubic yard
- Special pickup
- Scheduled via 311 Call Center
- General fine range
- $50 to $2,500 per Sec. 16-61
Summary
South Bend requires residents to keep yard waste separate from household trash and set it out weekly in a City-issued container under Code of Ordinances Sec. 16-8(f). Grass and leaves cannot go in plastic bags, twigs under two inches ride free in the weekly cart, and anything bigger needs a scheduled special pickup.
Yard waste as defined herein, shall be collected by the City on a weekly basis within the City limits for disposal and recycling at the City's Organic Resource Facility provided it is placed in containers furnished by the City. Each owner, occupant or lessee of any single or multifamily dwelling shall separate and keep separate any yard waste from the remainder of the residential refuse for collection. Yard waste shall not be placed in plastic bags for collection. Such yard waste shall be placed in containers furnished by the City, or may be placed for special pick-up only, in paper or other biodegradable bags. Twigs and branches less than two (2) inches in diameter are allowed in the yard waste container for weekly pickup. Additionally, special pick-up may be scheduled for any tree limbs and brush of a diameter of greater than two (2) inches and less than six (6) inches which shall be bundled together in lengths of forty-eight (48) inches or less, or for large quantities of yard waste, excluding tree limbs in excess of six (6) inches in diameter and stumps.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 65).
Full Breakdown
Under Sec. 16-8(f), the Department of Public Works collects yard waste weekly within City limits for recycling at the City's Organic Resource Facility, but only if it is separated from regular refuse and placed in a City-furnished container; plastic bags are banned outright, though paper or other biodegradable bags are allowed for special pickups. Twigs and branches under two inches in diameter can ride in the weekly cart. Sec. 16-8(g) makes City-container use mandatory for weekly service: material set out any other way is only eligible for a scheduled special pickup, arranged through the 311 Call Center under Sec.
16-8(h), where the first cubic yard or large item each month is free and additional loads are billed per Sec. 16-6(c)(1). Sec. 16-27 makes it official City policy that no yard waste from any source, residential, commercial, industrial or governmental, may be landfilled; it must go to the Organic Resource Facility unless the Public Works Director approves another recycling method. Sec. 16-28 requires all brush and tree limbs to be cut to 48 inches or less and bundled, and bars delivery in plastic bags to the Facility; limbs over six inches in diameter or stumps cannot be processed at all.
Sec. 00 per cubic yard for customers outside City limits, with compost and wood chips available free for self-load or $5 to $9 per cubic yard if City staff load it; Operation Relief, the Solid Waste/Yard Waste Program, and the Park Department are exempt from tipping charges under Sec. 16-29(d). Leaves may still be raked into the tree lawn during the fall window the Department of Public Works designates each year.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 16-61 sets the general chapter penalty: not less than $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second, and $200 for each subsequent offense, capped at $2,500 per violation, with each day of a continuing violation counted separately. Yard waste set out loose or bagged in plastic outside a City container is simply left uncollected until moved to a container or scheduled as a paid special pickup under Sec. 16-8(g)-(h).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I bag grass clippings in plastic for pickup?
What happens to tree limbs over six inches thick?
Is there a charge for extra yard waste?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in South Bend
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