Stafford Township, NJ Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 166-4.1 requires all persons in Stafford Township, including Manahawkin, to separate leaves from other solid waste generated at their premises. Unless the leaves are stored or recycled for composting or mulching on the premises, they are placed at the curb or other designated area for collection at the times and dates, and in the manner, established by the Township's recycling regulations. Those regulations are issued by the Recycling Coordinator, Code Enforcement Officer and/or Superintendent of Public Works and take effect only after the Township Council approves them by resolution (§ 166-4.4).

The Township has two leaf pickup seasons: a spring season that runs from March 1 through April 30 of each year, and a fall season that runs from October 1 to December 31. Outside those windows a resident has the option, throughout the year, of bagging his own leaves and bringing them to the Ocean County Recycling Facility.

Chapter 167 adds curb rules that apply to yard waste. Section 167-3K covers brush: bushes, limbs, branches and small trees from incidental pruning, ornamental tree maintenance or minor storm damage, up to four inches in diameter with the stumps or root balls removed, go to the curb with the cut ends facing the street in one pile no larger than 10 feet wide by four feet high by eight feet long. Oversized amounts of brush and logs from large or multiple tree removal and clearing are the responsibility of the homeowner or contractor. Section 167-3C bars placing materials at the curb before 5:00 p.m., local time, 24 hours prior to collection. Dumping yard waste on any public property, or trespassing to deposit it on another person's land, is unlawful (§ 167-3E), and the Township collects no yard waste from any manufacturing, commercial office or other business establishment (§ 167-3G).