Help & Support

Frequently Asked Questions:

YARD WASTE RECYCLING

To view DNREC's yard waste presentation click here.

For more information on the new and improved yard waste program, please call the DSWA Citizens’ Response Line at 1-800-404-7080.

Q) Why is there be a Yard Waste ban in New Castle County?

A) Restricting yard waste from the Cherry Island Landfill remains a permit condition– which DNREC issued to the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. Current estimates based on DSWA’s recent statewide waste characterization study place Yard Waste at approximately 16.4% of residential waste. By diverting Yard Waste from the landfill, the life expectancy of the landfill will be extended.

Q) If I cannot put Yard Waste in my regular trash, what can I do with it?

A) Here are several options available for the disposal of yard waste:

• Check with your trash hauler to see if the program they are offering fits your needs. Some residential trash haulers in New Castle County have indicated they are offering Yard Waste collection services.
• Bring your yard waste to one of DSWA’s facilities where it will be recycled into mulch or compost for a fee. Cherry Island Landfill, Sandtown Landfill, and Jones Crossroads Landfill, as well as our transfer stations at Pine Tree Corners, Milford, and Route 5, all have yard waste drop off areas. Please visit our Facilities page for details.
• Sign-up for DSWA’s Yard Waste collection program. Customers will receive a 96-gallon cart on wheels for their yard waste.  To have the cart picked up customers will need to purchase $1.00 yard waste stickers in lots of 10. Each cart has a transparent bag attached to it, when customers are ready for their cart to be picked up they will need to place 3 stickers in the bag. Visit our Yard Waste program page for more information.
• Take Yard Waste to one of the 3 free drop-off facilities operated by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). Look into starting a compost pile in your yard. DSWA and the University of Delaware Extension Offices are both selling backyard composting bins for $20.00. The bin can be expanded to 3 feet in diameter.

Q) What is DSWA’s yard waste program?

A) Our pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program offers pick-up of your yard waste at your curb. Customers will receive a 96-gallon cart on wheels for their yard waste.  To have the cart picked up customers will need to purchase $1.00 yard waste stickers in lots of 10. Each cart has a transparent bag attached to it, when customers are ready for their cart to be picked up they will need to place 3 stickers in the bag.

Q) What exactly is yard waste?

A) "Yard Waste" means plant material resulting from lawn maintenance and other horticultural gardening and landscaping activities and includes grass, leaves, prunings, brush, shrubs, garden materials, Christmas trees, and tree limbs up to 4 inches in diameter.

Q) When will yard waste pick-up occur?

A) Yard Waste is picked up every other week year round.

Q) What can I do with my Christmas tree?

A) DSWA will collect Christmas trees once they are cut down to 4 feet in length and placed in the cart. 

Q) I have a lot of “monkey balls”(fruit from the Osage tree) and walnuts that fall in my yard. Do those falls under the Yard Waste ban?

A) Yes, because things like monkey balls and walnuts are plant material that result from yard maintenance therefore they fall under the Yard Waste ban.

Q) I have holiday greens with ribbons and bows, how should I dispose of these?

A) Floral arrangements such as holiday decorations that are mixed with wire, ribbon, etc. should be considered household garbage.  Wires and ribbon would contaminate the yard waste composting process.

Q) How can I order Yard Waste stickers?

A) You can order the Yard Waste stickers from the DSWA website when you visit our Yard Waste Recycling program page, or call the Citizens’ Response Line at 1-800-404-7080, or visit the DSWA Administrative Office located on South Bradford Street in Dover, Delaware

Q) I still have more questions about yard waste, who can I talk to?

A) DSWA has a Citizens’ Response Line available Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm to answer any questions you may have about yard waste or any other DSWA program, please call 1-800-404-7080. 

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