West Des Moines, IA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 4-5-4(G) treats yard waste generously on volume but strictly on preparation. The amount of yard waste in approved bags and bundled tree debris put out for regular collection is not limited, but every bag must be an approved yard waste bag, defined in § 4-5-3 as a two-ply, fifty-pound wet-strength kraft paper bag with up to thirty gallons of capacity, and it must carry a City-approved yard waste sticker. Tree debris and brush under six inches in diameter must be tied into bundles no larger than forty-eight inches long and eighteen inches in diameter, stickered the same way; branches too small to bundle securely go in a stickered yard waste bag instead, and no loose debris is picked up.

No bag, bundle, or branch piece offered for collection may weigh more than fifty pounds. Debris over six inches in diameter is excluded from regular collection entirely and must go through a special arrangement with a private hauler, and any debris generated by a tree service contractor's own removal work must be hauled away by that contractor, not set out for the City. Yard waste and tree debris must also be kept separate from all other solid waste at collection time, under § 4-5-4(G)(3), and the City's compost stations remain available for residents who prefer to haul their own yard waste under § 4-5-9(C).