Recycle This Pittsburgh

Leaves

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Given Pittsburgh’s climate, many people end up with dropped leaves in the fall. Not surprisingly, leaves are not regularly accepted with Pittsburgh’s curbside recycling. However, the city does offer a curbside pickup for yard waste, including leaves, twice a year. See below for more details

Many people in Pittsburgh rake up their leaves and set them out in plastic trash bags for regular trash pickup. The city will take your leaves this way but the plastic bag and leaves will go to the city landfill, where they will not decompose or return their nutrients to the environment. Avoid putting out your leaves as trash if you can and definitely don’t put them out in plastic bags! You can purchase large paper yardwaste bags at local home improvement stores or online.

Don’t Put Out as Normal Trash

The worst thing you can do with your leaves is bag them up and set them out for regular trash pickup. Across the US, about 8% of landfill waste is yard waste. That’s unnecessary landfill space and incurs costs to the city to pay to dispost them as trash. This also removes the nutrients in leaves from our local ecosystem.

When is the City’s Yard Waste Pick-up Day?

The city typically holds two yard waste pickup days. These are special collection days that are the same for the entire city (as opposed to trash & recycling dates which vary by neighborhood.) There is usually one date in the spring and one date in the fall.

You can also take leaves in paper bags to several drop-off locations in the city, although fees may apply. Get more information on dropping off your yard waste here.

Use Your Leaves At Home If You Can

The leaves that fall on your property are a valuable source of nutrients and brown matter for your yard, garden, compost bin, and wildlife. Instead of raking up your leaves and sending them off to the city, considering using them yourself. You can mulch them up right over your yard with your lawnmower and they will support the health of your yard and may even inhibit weed growth. Fallen leaves also support butterflies by providing good conditions for pupa and caterpillars. And the insect life that fallen leaves support in turn supports songbirds as a food source.

If you compost any of your food waste, dried leaves are great to stockpile as brown material to balance out your food scraps and keep your compost working well. (More tips for composting leaves here.)

If you want to know more about composting in Pittsburgh, The Incline published a guide in 2018 that gives a lot of good information. PRC also hosts regular local workshops where attendees are taught how to compost and given a compost bin to get started with backyard composting.