Local Rules

Grass in One Pile, Branches in Another

Two streams, two destinations, two rates. Mixing them is the most common and most expensive yard waste mistake in this city.

⚠️ The separation rule

If you remember one thing about yard waste in Sioux Falls, make it this.

They are not the same material as far as this city's waste system is concerned, and treating them as one pile is the mistake that costs people money.

Where each stream actually goes

The separation exists because the two have completely different destinations.

• Grass clippings and leaves are processed for composting at the Regional Sanitary Landfill.
• Limbs and branches are ground up to make mulch.

Different machinery, different process, different processing rates. A mixed load is not usable for either, which is why the rule is stated so plainly.

The same logic explains why we ask what is in a green waste container. Clean brush has a cheaper route than the same brush with fence panels mixed in.

It cannot go in the trash

Yard waste should not be placed with your regular trash or recycling. It is a separate stream and the responsibility sits with you:

Since the City does not collect anything here, that means curbside yard waste is an additional service from your hauler, at an additional fee, that you have to ask for. It is not included by default.

Yard debris is accepted year-round at the Regional Sanitary Landfill if you would rather haul it yourself.

⚠️ No plastic bags, ever

The presentation rules are specific, and plastic is the one that catches everyone.

Acceptable containers:

• Carts provided by your hauler
• Lawn and leaf "Kraft-type" brown paper bags — these decompose during composting, which is the entire point
• Your own container, provided it is rigid, leak-resistant, and has a rigid lid that fits securely

Material may be placed loose inside those containers. And the top edge of a paper bag should be folded closed to stop material spilling or blowing out — which matters more here than in most places, given how the wind comes across open ground.

No plastic bags. A plastic bag full of leaves contaminates a compost load and has to be pulled out by hand.

Once a week, and 6 a.m.

Two timing rules.

Yard waste must be picked up or removed at least once a week. It is not material you can let accumulate at the side of the house through the season.

Yard waste should be at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on your scheduled collection day — and that may be a different day from your trash or recycling, because it is a different service. Check with your hauler rather than assuming.

One useful piece of flexibility: some haulers offer seasonal-only yard waste collection, or let you suspend it over winter. In a climate where nothing grows for months, that is worth asking about.

The free seasonal drop-off — and its limits

The City runs free leaf and branch drop-off sites during set periods in spring and autumn. Genuinely useful, and worth timing a garden project around.

The conditions:

• Residents of the five-county region only — Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha and Turner.
• Branches and leaves must be kept separate, same rule as everywhere else.
• No root balls. Stated plainly, and it rules out most of what a real removal produces.
• ⚠️ Commercial businesses and contractors are not permitted at the free sites. They must use the Regional Sanitary Landfill or another approved facility.

That last one matters. If you have hired a landscaper, they cannot use the free sites for your material.

What is not yard waste at all

Several things that come out of a garden belong in neither stream:

• Root balls and stumps. Explicitly excluded from the free sites, and past what the processing handles.
• Treated timber. Fence posts, deck boards, landscape ties, raised beds. In this climate all exterior wood is treated.
• Fence panels and hardware, painted or not.
• Soil, sod and rock. Heavy, and not garden refuse in the sense intended.
• Pots, trays and irrigation pipe.
• Concrete edging, pavers and retaining blocks — and around here, quartzite, which is heavier than almost anything else you will handle.

A landscape rebuild produces a mixture of all of these, which is why the whole job usually wants a container rather than an attempt to split it across streams.

A pre-collection checklist

• Branches in one pile, grass and leaves in another — never mixed
• No plastic bags, at all
• Paper lawn and leaf bags, hauler carts, or a rigid container with a secure rigid lid
• Fold the top of paper bags closed
• Out by 6:00 a.m., possibly on a different day from trash
• Removed at least once a week
• Ask your hauler about winter suspension
• Free seasonal sites: residents only, no root balls, no contractors
• Treated timber, fencing, soil and stone are not yard waste
• Stumps, root balls and trunk sections: book a container