Springfield, IL Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Chapter 105 of the Springfield Code of Ordinances works in two layers. Section 105.02 defines yard waste as leaves, grass, clippings, garden debris (other than vegetative waste), and brush. Section 105.12 requires paper bags or emptyable waste receptacles with yard waste stickers when a licensed hauler collects, but subsection (c) switches the stickers off during any free yard waste pick up conducted by the city. Section 105.29 leaves the calendar to the Office of Public Works, which designates the free leaf pickup periods for the spring and fall season, caps each bag at 33 gallons and requires bags or containers at the curb.

The 2026 city program is bi-weekly curbside pickup for residents inside the corporate limits. The South Zone is the area south of South Grand Avenue and Old Jacksonville Road, including the residential areas around the lake. The North Zone is the area north of those roads, including properties west of Veterans Parkway/north of Iles Avenue, which the city says are now part of it. Pickup weeks start on a Monday. The printed fall and winter weeks are North: October 5, October 19, November 2, November 16, November 30, December 14, December 28. South: October 12, October 26, November 9, November 23, December 7, December 21.

Leaves must be at the curb by 6:00 am on the Monday of the pickup week, at the end of the driveway or on the parkway between the sidewalk and the street, never in the alley. Each bag or container is capped at 50 lbs. Plastic bags, grocery sacks, boxes, metal cans and tape on the bag are out. Yard waste with food, rocks, large branches, flower pots or trays, animal droppings or street waste is not collected, and crews put a sticker on any bag or container that fails the criteria and ask the resident to re-bag. No call is needed, and bagged leaves stay at the curb once placed.

When a licensed hauler collects instead, § 105.12(b) applies: stickered bags are picked up within five business days after they are set at the curb, and a bag without a sticker is picked up for up to $2.50, a figure that rises by $.25 beginning January 1, 2022 and every five-year period thereafter. Under § 105.12(d) the director of the office of public works can extend the hauler collection period in inclement weather or other emergency.