Boston's Trash Set-Out Window, and What the Tickets Cost

Every September a lot of people in Boston are living somewhere new, and the trash is what my clients text me about first. The city publishes all of it with the fine amounts attached, so I pulled this off boston.gov.

When the barrel goes out

Trash goes out after 5 p.m. the evening before your collection day, and it has to be at the curb by 6 a.m. on the day itself. Anything earlier is early set-out. The residential fine is $25 under Article 23 of the city ordinances, and the same amount applies to improper storage, which means trash that isn’t in a two ply bag or a barrel with a tight lid. A barrel bigger than 32 gallons needs a grab bar on it. Overfilling a barrel or dumpster is $50. Garbage and debris on the sidewalk is $50 at a building of sixteen units or fewer and $100 above sixteen, but the city assigns that duty to the owner: if you are a property owner, you need to make sure all sidewalks next to your property are clear of garbage and debris.

The cardboard

Any cardboard that doesn’t fit in the blue recycling bin has to be flattened, bundled, tied with string and placed directly next to the bin. No piece may exceed 3 feet in length, so a wardrobe box gets cut down before it goes out. Boxes can’t have Styrofoam or plastic left inside, and the city asks that cardboard go in clean and dry, with no waxy coatings. A cardboard box also can’t stand in for a bin, for trash or for recycling, and kitchen and grocery bags aren’t trash bags.

The containers

The city supplies a 64-gallon blue recycling cart to residents of buildings with six units or fewer, with a limit of one new cart per calendar year, and you request it from Boston 311. A trash can smaller than 32 gallons can be used as a recycling bin if it has wheels, a lid and a lift bar, plus a sticker from 311. City-issued recycling barrels are for recycling only: using one for trash or yard waste could bring a code enforcement violation, and the barrel may not be collected and may be removed.

Mattresses, TVs and the rest

Furniture can go out with your normal curbside collection. Refrigerators, TVs and air conditioners have to be requested through 311, by phone or through the app. Mattresses are separate, and those get scheduled for collection on the city’s mattress recycling page. The city doesn’t collect construction debris, automotive parts, plumbing fixtures, fences, water heaters or fire debris at all, and asks you to find a local private hauler for those.

Moving into a new place in Boston this fall? Send me the address and I’ll tell you what your street’s collection looks like. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.