Curbside Garbage Information

The City of Houston provides residents with city services with a 96-gallon automated garbage cart. The SWMD provides weekly garbage and yard waste collection service to about 390,000 residential units and small commercial establishments.

Automated trash collection is cleaner, safer and more efficient than traditional manual collection. In the past, the department has incurred as much as $4 million in workers' compensation costs each year using manual garbage collection. The automated system has reduced injuries, especially back-related injuries, which are common in garbage collection.

The containers used for automated garbage collection are manufactured using 50% recycled materials.

GARBAGE COLLECTION GUIDELINES

• City-provided containers must be placed at the curb between 6 p.m. the day before and 7 a.m. on the scheduled collection day.
• Place the container on the curb facing the street with the handle facing the house.
• Containers must be accessible and not blocked by obstacles, including parked cars, trees, mailboxes, fencing, etc. Blocked containers will not be emptied.
• Leave at least a three (3) feet space between garbage and recycling containers to allow the truck to safely operate.
• Remove containers from the curb line and/ or public view by 10:00 p.m. on the day of collection and stored in a secure location.

Do NOT put the following in your BLACK GARBAGE container: Household chemicals, computer equipment, yard trimmings, hot ash/coal, dead animals and construction/ demolition remodeling debris.

*Chemicals and hot ashes cause truck fires.

Yard Trimmings Recycling

Houston residents receive once a week yard waste collection of grass, leaves and small branches as part of their solid waste services package. Yard waste collection happens on the same day as garbage collection. Effective of May, 2024, approved changes to the City’s Code of Ordinances, Articles I and Articles IV, made provisions to expand the set-out options for participating households of the curbside yard waste collection program. City-approved biodegradable bags bearing the City seal are no longer required. Residents now have the options to use any 100% biodegradable bag (or compostable bag) meeting the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6400 or EN 13432 specifications.Residents may also place curbside yard waste contents in personal reusable refuse containers (excluding city issued 95-gallon refuse carts); or tie and bundle small logs in to 4-foot lengths. Contents in personal reusable containers and bundles of yard waste must not exceed 50 lbs.

Yard waste must be placed at the curb 3 feet away from the automated container for separate yard trimming collection.

Grass clippings, small branches, and leaves must not be placed in the automated garbage cans. Yard trimmings mixed with paper, plastic or any other type of waste will not be collected.

The yard trimmings collection service is offered to all citizens who receive the automated garbage collection service. Yard trimmings make up approximately 30% of the total residential waste stream in Houston. Recycling yard trimmings saves the city in landfill costs and extends the life of landfills.

Extra Capacity Garbage Collection

Do you often have more trash than one garbage container can hold? Do you need to have an extra garbage bag that needs to be collected? The SWMD offers options to meet your extra garbage collection needs. Learn More >>

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