NYC Sanitation Rules: Bin Mandate, Compost, and Tickets

NYC sanitation rules are set and enforced by the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), and they cover when you can put trash on the curb, how you separate recycling and compost, what container you use, and how you keep your sidewalk and gutter clean. Fines start at $25 for minor separation slips and reach $350 for repeat snow-clearing violations. The single biggest change on the horizon: starting June 2026, buildings with one to nine residential units must use official NYC Bins for trash.

When You Can Put Trash Out

Set-out time depends on the container. Trash in a bin with a secure, tight-fitting lid can go to the curb as early as 6:00 PM the evening before your collection day. Trash in plastic bags has to wait until 8:00 PM. Everything must be curbside before midnight, because DSNY starts collecting at 12:01 AM. Containers are capped at 55 gallons.¹

A February 2026 amendment lets community boards vote to allow earlier Friday set-out for residents with Saturday collection. Where a board has opted in, lidded containers can go out as early as 3:00 PM Friday.² Ask your community board whether your district has adopted the earlier window.

Once your trash is collected, bring the empty bins in by 9:00 PM that day. If pickup happens after 4:00 PM, you have until 9:00 AM the next morning.¹ Between collections, store bins inside, in an alleyway, or in a courtyard. If you truly have no off-sidewalk storage, bins may stay within three feet of your building as long as they leave room for pedestrians to pass.³

Miss the timing rules and the fines are $50, $100, and $200 for first, second, and third offenses.⁴ The windows are tight for a reason: less time on the sidewalk means less food for rats.

The Official NYC Bin Mandate in June 2026

Starting June 2026, every building with one to nine residential units must use official NYC Bins for trash. These are wheeled, latching, rat-resistant bins built to fit DSNY’s mechanized trucks.⁵

Three sizes are sold for trash: 45-gallon (recommended for multi-unit properties, about four kitchen bags), 35-gallon (recommended for smaller buildings and single-family homes, about three bags), and 25-gallon (for tight spaces or low volume, about two bags). The most common size runs around $50, which DSNY says is roughly a third of comparable retail bins. You can buy them at NYC Home Depot locations or have one delivered through Instacart, DoorDash, or Uber Eats.⁵ Only the trash bin is mandatory. Matching bins for recycling and composting are available in the same product line, and compost bins come in 21-gallon and 13-gallon sizes.

How to Separate Recycling and Compost

Under 16 RCNY § 1-08, recyclables split into two streams. Paper goes on its own. Metal, glass, plastic, and beverage cartons go together.⁶ Rigid plastics like buckets are included. Items heavily soiled with food or paint are not recyclable and belong in the trash. Rinse containers before you toss them, because contaminated items get rejected.

Cardboard has its own handling rules. For curbside bundles, tie them securely and keep them under 18 inches high. If you’re putting cardboard in a container or bag, break it into pieces no larger than 9 by 11 inches.⁶

Food scraps and yard waste go in the brown compost bin, collected weekly on your recycling day.⁷ DSNY’s online collection lookup will tell you your exact pickup days by address.

Fines for improper separation scale with building size. For buildings with one to eight units, penalties are $25, $50, and $100 for the first three offenses. For buildings with nine or more units, the same sequence jumps to $100, $200, and $300.⁴⁸

Sidewalks, Gutters, and Snow

NYC Administrative Code § 16-118 makes property owners responsible for keeping the sidewalk, flagging, and curbstone in front of their building clear of garbage and debris. That duty extends 18 inches into the street, so the gutter is on you too. The one carve-out: you don’t have to clean out any catch basin that falls inside that strip.⁹

You’re liable for litter on your frontage even if someone else dropped it. The ECB penalty schedule sets dirty-sidewalk fines at $100 for a first offense, rising to $300 for repeats. The same range applies to a dirty gutter strip and to sidewalk obstructions.¹⁰ Vacant lots follow the same rule, and if the city has to send a crew, the owner gets billed.¹¹

Snow gets its own timetable under § 16-123. You have to clear a path at least four feet wide across your sidewalk and gutter. The deadline depends on when the snow stops falling:¹²

Snow stops 7:00 AM to 4:59 PM: clear within four hours.
Snow stops 5:00 PM to 8:59 PM: clear within 14 hours.
Snow stops 9:00 PM to 6:59 AM: clear by 11:00 AM.

The daytime window is the one that catches people. Snow ending at 2:00 PM on a workday leaves you four hours, meaning someone needs to be there before dark. Fines run $10 to $150 for a first offense, $150 to $250 for a second within 12 months, and $250 to $350 for a third. Ignoring the notice can add up to another $350 on top.¹³

Items That Can’t Go in Regular Trash

Mattresses and Box Springs

Any mattress or box spring set out for collection must be fully sealed in a clear plastic bag. This is a bedbug-control rule. Crews will skip an unbagged mattress and you’ll get a $50 first-offense fine, rising to $100 and then $200.⁴

Refrigerators, Freezers, and Air Conditioners

Anything with CFC refrigerant has to go through a scheduled CFC recovery appointment, requested through 311 or online. Up to 10 appliances can be handled per appointment. Before the pickup date, remove hinges and locks from refrigerators and freezers, and place the appliance at the curb with the back to the street after 6:00 PM the night before. On the appointment day, DSNY extracts the refrigerant and tags the unit; collection follows on your next recycling day.¹⁴

Newer appliances using R600a or R32 refrigerant, marked with a yellow flame triangle, are not collected by DSNY at all. For those, contact the manufacturer or a private carter.¹⁴

Electronics

The New York State Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act makes it illegal to toss certain electronics with your trash or recycling. Covered devices include computers, laptops, small-scale servers, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, external drives, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, DVRs, cable boxes, CRTs, phones, tablets, e-readers, and gaming consoles and headsets with processors.¹⁵ Microwaves, digital cameras, radios, and power tools are not covered by the ban.

Buildings with 10 or more units may qualify for on-site collection through ecycleNYC.¹⁶ Otherwise, watch for a SAFE Disposal Event, which also takes paint, motor oil, batteries, and expired medications.¹⁷

Standard Bulk Items

Wooden furniture, rugs, and large plastic items don’t need an appointment. Set them out on the same schedule as regular trash: lidded containers by 6:00 PM, bags and loose items by 8:00 PM.

A Note on Businesses

DSNY doesn’t collect from commercial establishments. Every business must contract with a licensed private carter and post a decal showing the carter’s name and pickup schedule. Businesses that haul their own waste display a Business Integrity Commission self-hauler registration instead. Keep the service contract available, because DSNY inspectors can ask to see it.¹⁸ The city is also rolling out Commercial Waste Zones through 2025 and 2026, which limit each area to specific authorized carters; if you don’t sign a contract by your zone’s deadline, DSNY assigns one at the maximum allowable rate.¹⁹

Fighting a Sanitation Ticket

Sanitation summonses are heard by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). The simplest defense is an online submission: type your argument and attach up to three supporting files, such as time-stamped photos of a clean sidewalk. The submission has to reach OATH on or before the hearing date on your summons, and only your first submission counts.²⁰

Phone, mail, and in-person hearings are available too, and you can reschedule once through the OATH website. Miss the hearing and the case goes into default; you then have 75 days to ask that the default be reopened. That’s not a safety net worth relying on. An ignored summons piles on additional penalties, and a $50 ticket doesn’t stay a $50 ticket for long.

1
New York City Department of Sanitation. Notice of Adoption of Final Rule Relating to Set-out Times for Collection
2
New York City Rules. Set-out Times for Collection
3
New York City Department of Sanitation. Trash
4
New York City Department of Sanitation. Collection Laws for Residents
5
New York City Department of Sanitation. Official NYC Bin Availability Expands Citywide Ahead of June 2026 Compliance Deadline
6
American Legal Publishing Corporation. Rules of the City of New York Title 16 – 1-08 Residential Collection Service of Designated Recyclable Materials
7
NYC311. Trash, Recycling, and Compost Collection Schedule
8
NYC311. Recycling Rules
9
New York Consolidated Laws. New York City Administrative Code 16-118 – Littering Prohibited
10
New York City Environmental Control Board. Sanitation Penalty Schedule
11
NYC311. Vacant Lot Cleaning Bill
12
New York City Department of Sanitation. Snow and Ice Removal from Sidewalks
13
American Legal Publishing. New York City Administrative Code 16-123 – Removal of Snow, Ice and Dirt from Sidewalks
14
New York City Department of Sanitation. CFC Removal
15
New York City Department of Sanitation. Electronics and E-Waste
16
New York City Department of Sanitation. ecycleNYC
17
New York City Department of Sanitation. SAFE Disposal Events
18
NYC311. Waste Disposal for Businesses
19
New York City Department of Sanitation. CWZ Rollout Schedule and Info Sessions
20
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Online Hearing Submission