St. Tammany Parish, LA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 38-79 governs collection and storage of solid waste in Chapter 38 of the St. Tammany Parish Code. Subsection (g) requires ordinary storage containers to be built of rust and impact resistant materials with tight-fitting covers that shield the contents from precipitation, rodents, insects and vermin. Subsection (i) relaxes that standard for one waste stream only: single use containers that fail those requirements are allowed for yard waste. Section 38-3 defines yard waste as vegetative matter resulting from landscaping or maintenance, including garden wastes, leaves, lawn cuttings, weeds, shrub and tree waste and prunings. Household garbage and construction debris do not get the lighter container standard.

A single use container must meet all five conditions at once: moisture resistant construction, a design that contains the waste, a closure that resists the entrance of water, a load of no more than 55 pounds, and enough strength for a collector to load it by hand. A paper lawn bag packed past 55 pounds, or left open to rain, fails the test. Under subsection (j), the owner keeps every container in a nuisance free condition, and a container supplied by the owner or a commercial hauler stays in good repair.

Subsection (c) handles items too big for a container. Tree limbs are named as an example of items allowed loose on the ground before collection, but they go adjacent to the service area and never in the street where they would block traffic. Subsection (f) caps storage time: solid waste cannot sit on public or private property for more than two weeks without the written approval of the department.

Inside Garbage District No. 1, section 38-297 adds collection rules. Loose leaves and grass clippings must be containerized. Uncontainerized yard waste such as light tree debris and shrubbery must be neatly stacked or securely tied in bundles of no more than four feet in length, two feet in diameter and 75 pounds per item. Home composting is a separate track: section 38-162(e) allows a yard waste compost site of up to 300 cubic feet without a permit or license, using grass clippings, leaves and brush limbs, as long as the site is managed to prevent nuisance or health and safety problems.