Yard Materials Collection Policy:  Grass, Leaves, and Small Brush

Separate Yard Materials Collections End December 15 Each Year
To conserve fuel, separate yard materials recycling collection in Baltimore County ends December 15 each year (regardless of what collection schedules may indicate), and resumes in April.

Yard materials are still collected during this time, but with the trash. Depending on how late in the year leaves fall, and other factors, it may take several weeks following December 15 for all yard materials to be collected. Residents are asked to leave their yard materials out until collection occurs.

New Collection Schedules
New four-year trash and recycling collection schedules are being distributed throughout the County between June 2007 and February 2009. Residents who have separate yard materials recycling collection will see on their new schedules that their last "Y" days occur somewhere in the December 2-15 period each year.

General Information
Some residents have "Y" days on their collection schedules, indicating separate yard materials recycling collections. For these residents, separate yard materials recycling collections occur on "Y" days from April through December 15 (regardless of what collection schedules may indicate). At these homes, yard materials are collected with trash only after the last "Y" day in that period through the end of March.

Other residents, in areas where yard materials are generally less prevalent, do not have "Y" days on their collection schedules. These residents have yard materials collected with trash year round.

Collection Information
Regardless of whether or not "Y" days appear on a resident's collection schedule, residents placing yard materials out for collection must:

1. Place yard materials in bags weighing no more than 30 pounds. Residents are asked to make sure that the bags they use are strong enough to hold their contents.
2. Place bags of yard materials out the night before their scheduled collection day.

Residents may set out an unlimited number of bags of yard materials, but the collector may not collect all of the bags on the same day. Collectors must make trash collection their first priority and must take into account all of the residents on their route. The Bureau of Solid Waste Management appreciates residents' patience regarding yard materials collections, especially during peak and/or holiday collection periods.

Residents must not rake or blow leaves (or other yard materials) into the public street. It is a violation of County Code Section 18-3-109 to place leaves, grass, or other debris into a County street or in storm drains. Such unlawful acts may result in fines being issued.

Revised April 1, 2008