Yardwaste
INSIDE your waste cart, yes you may use plastic bags for your yard waste. OUTSIDE your waste cart, No. Yardwaste not in a cart must be placed in paper yardwaste bags.
No, there isn’t a limit but depending on the time of year it will either cost you to puchase yardwaste stickers for paper yardwaste bags (a sticker is needed on each bag), or it will be free. The free period will be a limited time of six weeks in the spring and six weeks in the fall when FCC will run separate yardwaste routes that will pick up paper yardwaste bags and deliver the material to the Oma-Gro facility for composting. You will note that only paper yardwaste bags are mentioned. No trash cans of any kind will be allowed other than your official City of Omaha waste cart.
Adding season-long yardwaste collection was too costly for the city’s budget. Instead, the City opted to provide separate yardwaste collection during the peak seasons in the spring and the fall when there will be six weeks during each period when unlimited yardwaste will be collected and composted. At other times yardwaste is collected with garbage for a combined waste stream.
The Cooperative Extension can help you understand your landscaping and maintenance options, but here are four brochures to get you started related to reducing the amount of grass you collect.
Your choice. Remove the pot and it’s yardwaste. Pot and all, it’s garbage.
Should I bag my garbage before placing it in my waste cart? While it’s not required, we highly encourage you to bag your garbage just like you used to. Now any type of bag will do — store carryout bags, store bought kitchen bags or black bags. The bags help keep your cart clean, which prevents it from emitting odors and attracting pests. And it helps prevent litter on those extremely windy Nebraska days. Yardwaste doesn’t need to be bagged when it’s in the cart.
You may place the plastic pumpkin bags inside your waste cart, however we recommend placing the leaves loose in your waste cart so you can fit more in the cart. We also recommend that you put a bag of garbage in the cart first (yardwaste alone has a tendency to pack in tight and not fall out). Plastic bags of yard waste outside the cart are not accepted.
There’s a plan for yardwaste bags! For six weeks in the spring and six weeks in the fall (the peak times for generating yardwaste), a separate yardwaste only truck will come around on collection day and pick up paper yardwaste bags at no extra charge for the service. They will pick up paper yardwaste bags only; no cans or plastic bags. During the rest of the year, you have to purchase yardwaste stickers for your yardwaste paper bags. The cost is $2 per sticker, and each bag must have its own sticker. For a list of stores where you can purchase these stickers, visit wasteline.org/mycart.
If the bales are still in good shape so that someone else could use them, place them on the curb with a sign that says FREE. If not picked up in a couple days, be a good neighbor and dispose of them this next way.
Properly prepare the material for yardwaste collection. Because the bales are likely too heavy, you will need to break apart the bales of straw for collection. Put the straw in paper yardwaste bags, or loose in a trash can. We recommend that you put yardwaste in the cart loose so you fit the most in. We also recommend that you put a bag of garbage in the cart first (yardwaste alone has a tendency to pack in tight and not fall out).
Waste
Yes, you can set out both weeks as long as it fits within your cart.
The contractor is not responsible for litter in the area prior to their arrival.
This is considered theft of City property and should be reported to the non-emergency police number at 402-444-5600. It helps if you have a good description of the person, their vehicle and license plate number.
- Six holidays are observed by the collection contractor and affect the collection schedule of all material, recycling, garbage and yardwaste. When holidays occur during the work week collection is delayed by one day for the remainder of that week, with the regularly scheduled Friday collection occurring on Saturday. View our holiday schedule » An e-mail reminders service about the holiday collection schedule is available. To register click here.
Recycling
Recycling is collected every other week on the same day as waste collection. To give an accurate answer we’ll need to look up the address. You may do so by clicking here or call 402-444-5238 for assistance in determining your collection day and whether you are in the A group or the B group. Then follow the calendar posted here.
A complete explanation is available when you click here or you can jump directly to our recycling chart.
To put it simply you may place the following in your green recycling cart:
- Aluminum cans
- Steel cans
- Plastics bottles and packaging 1, 2, 3 and 5 (check the bottom of the bottle for number inside a triangle set of arrows)
- Milk cartons, juice and soup boxes
- We don’t accept glass in the cart. Glass can be recycled at the drop-off sites.
Put the following in a paper bag so you don’t cause litter and then place in your green recycling cart:
- All clean paper including newspapers, magazines, junk mail and cardboard.
More than 15 years ago The city switched to an easier way of recycling called “single stream.” All recyclables go in your green lidded cart mixed together. No need to sort anything.
Omaha switched to single-stream recycling collection to make recycling even easier but single-stream recycling is collected in a compactor truck that would break glass. This meant that Omaha had to remove glass from the system because it can be dangerous for the recycling workers and contaminate other materials such as paper. You can still recycle glass by taking your glass to one of the Omaha area drop-off sites. The list of drop-off sites is available by clicking here.
Six holidays are observed by the collection contractor and affect the collection schedule of all material, recycling, waste and yardwaste. When holidays occur during the work week collection is delayed by one day for the remainder of that week, with the regularly scheduled Friday collection occurring on Saturday. View our holiday schedule » An e-mail reminders service about the holiday collection schedule is available. To register click here.
Visit our website at www.OmahaRecycles.com. Also watch your mail for our publication WASTELINE that is mailed out several times per year. To look at back issues, click here.
Omaha’s recycling program offers an easy and convenient way for you to do good, all from the comforts of your own home. Recycling is O! So Easy. By placing your recyclables in your green recycling cart, you can help divert materials from the landfill and help preserve natural resources. Each year residents of Omaha recycle around 15,000 tons of materials. That equates to half a million dollars in energy resources saved each year.
Recyclables are picked up every other week in Omaha. FCC, our collection contractor, uses packer trucks, commonly called garbage trucks. Trucks are labeled for the material they are collecting, RECYCLE, or GARBAGE. The recyclables are taken to an indoor, semi-automated, processing facility under contract with the city. This company separates the different materials, compacts and bales the material for shipment to various companies to make new items. By using recycled resources to make new items, companies save billions of dollars each year in energy costs. Here is an example of the process: an aluminum can that is recycled in Omaha, will be shipped to an aluminum plant where it is melted and used to make a new can that is then back on store shelves in as little as 60 days. That is called closed loop recycling and it starts right in your kitchen when you choose to recycle that can!
Like this but it will say recycle
We offer recycling to all the single-family households in Omaha and also the apartment buildings where the property owner has registered to have the City collect the building’s waste and recyclables. For apartment buildings that we don’t provide service to, we do encourage you to use any of the Omaha drop-off locations. A listing of drop-off sites is available by clicking here.
DO NOT USE TO REPORT SERVICE ISSUES