Ithaca trash tags cost $6.00 each as of January 1, 2026, and every bag or can of garbage you set at the curb needs one stuck to it. The city sells them individually or as a sheet of six for $36.00, and you buy them in person at City Hall or at participating retailers around town.1City of Ithaca, NY. Trash and Yard Waste Collection / Tags The pay-as-you-throw setup means your bill rises and falls with how much you actually toss.
What a Tag Covers
One tag covers one bag or one can holding up to 35 pounds of trash. A rigid can cannot exceed 32 gallons in capacity, and once filled it cannot weigh more than 70 pounds. Plastic bags need to be at least 1.5 mils thick, securely tied, and under 50 pounds.2City of Ithaca, NY. City of Ithaca Code Chapter 196 – Garbage and Refuse Stuffing two bags inside one can does not let you use a single tag. Each container at the curb is its own ticket.
Yard waste runs on a separate tag at $1.50 per can, bag, or bundle, sold at the same places as trash tags.3City of Ithaca, NY. Trash Collection Recycling is free and needs no tag at all.
Where to Buy Trash Tags in Ithaca
Tags are only sold in person. There is no online portal and no mail option.1City of Ithaca, NY. Trash and Yard Waste Collection / Tags You can pick them up at the Chamberlain’s Office in City Hall, or at these retail locations:3City of Ithaca, NY. Trash Collection
- Agway Farm and Home Center, 213 S. Fulton St.
- Cornell Campus Store, 135 Ho Plaza
- GreenStar Co-op Market, 770 Cascadilla St., 307 College Ave., and Dewitt Mall at 215 N. Cayuga St.
- P&C Fresh, East Hill Plaza
- Dandy Mini Mart, 805 W. Buffalo St.
- Tops Friendly Market, 2300 N. Triphammer Plaza
- Wegmans, 500 S. Meadow St.
- Kinney Drugs, 513 N. Cayuga St.
At most stores, the tags live at the customer service desk, not in the regular checkout aisles. A spare sheet in a kitchen drawer saves you a last-minute errand the night before pickup.
How to Attach the Tag
If the crew can’t see the tag, your bag stays on the curb. For plastic bags, wrap the tag around the neck above the tie so the adhesive ends meet and form a visible loop. Don’t bury it under the knot or tuck it into a fold.3City of Ithaca, NY. Trash Collection For a rigid can, wrap the tag around the handle where it’s easy to spot from the street. Press the adhesive down firmly so wind or rain can’t peel it loose before morning.
When to Set Trash Out
Collection crews start their routes at 4:00 a.m., so the city asks you to put tagged trash at the curb the night before your pickup day.3City of Ithaca, NY. Trash Collection Waiting until the morning risks the truck already having passed your block. Place bags and cans close enough to the curb that the crew can grab them from the street without walking onto your property.
Anything missing a tag, overweight, or oversized gets left behind. A rejected bag sitting out until next week is both an eyesore and, as the fines below show, a growing bill.
Holiday Delays
When a federal or state holiday lands on a weekday, collection shifts back one day for the rest of that week.3City of Ithaca, NY. Trash Collection So a Monday holiday pushes a normal Wednesday pickup to Thursday, and every day after that in the same week slides by one. The observed holidays are New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
When You Don’t Need a Tag
Curbside recycling is free and tag-free. It alternates weeks with yard waste. Tompkins County sets the recycling rules, and food and beverage cartons and black plastic are no longer accepted as of the most recent update.4Tompkins County, NY. Recycling and Materials Management
Food scraps have their own free option in parts of town. Tompkins County launched the Fork ’em Over curbside composting pilot in April 2026, with free weekly pickups in portions of the Northside and Southside neighborhoods for homes of one to three units.5Tompkins County, NY. Fork em Over Curbside You can check your address and sign up through the county’s registration page.
Renters should pause before buying a sheet. Some apartment buildings and commercial properties use private haulers and don’t participate in city curbside pickup at all.3City of Ithaca, NY. Trash Collection Ask your landlord before spending $36 on tags you can’t use.
Fines for Skipping a Tag
Untagged or non-compliant trash at the curb falls under Ithaca’s exterior property maintenance code. Within a rolling six-month window, the first violation at a property is $25, the second is $50, and each one after that is $100.6City of Ithaca, NY. City of Ithaca Code Chapter 178 – Exterior Property Maintenance Unpaid balances pick up a 20% late penalty after six months. Each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, so a single untagged bag left out for several days can stack fines faster than a sheet of tags would have cost.