Refuse Collection Service Guide
Refuse Services provided by:
Mid Michigan Waste Authority - 781-9555
through
Waste Management, Inc. - 1-800-796-9696
Set out all materials by 7 am on your assigned refuse day.
Refuse:
Residents still have weekly refuse service. Anything larger than noted is classified as a bulk item, two of which are allowed per week. One bundle of brush is also allowed each week with refuse.
Garbage setout is based in typical household activities. NO house clean-out, move-out, or eviction setouts allowed - contact a commercial hauler for pricing.
- Regular Garbage
- Each bag or can must be 4 - 33 gallons and weigh 50 lbs. or less
- Up to 20 bags or cans of refuse may be set out each week for pick-up. For greater amounts of refuse, contact a commercial hauler for pricing.
- DO NOT PLACE TRASH IN CARDBOARD BOXES
- Bulk Items
- Any item that does no fit in a 33 gallon or smaller bag/can or weighs more than 50 lbs. is a bulk item.
- Two bulky items may be set out each week.
- Bulk items include furniture, lamps, bicycles, refrigerator, other appliances, diassembled swingsets, etc.
- Carpet must be cut into 4' rolls; each roll counts as one bulk item.
- Construction materials NOT included - Items such as larger auto parts, garage doors, landscape timbers, roof shingles, assembled swingsets, building materials, ets are not included in the regular refuse program. To have these items removed, contact a commercial garbage hauler for price and details. Check the Yellow Pages under "Rubbish".
- Brush (Collected by City Crews)
- Brush pickup starts April 1 and ends October 31, Monday thru Friday.
- Westside pickup is from the 1 thru 15 of every month. Please have brush out before the first of the month to ensure pickup.
- Eastside pickup is from the 16 thru the end of the month. Please have brush out before the15th of the month to ensure pickup.
- Only one brush pile that is NOT bundled is accepted.
- The pile is NOT the exceed 4ft wide by 4ft high by 10ft long, also the diameter of the limb is not to exceed 6 inches in diameter.
- Any brush pile that does not conform to these rules will be in violation and subject to cost of removal.
- Holidays
- When a major holiday falls on a weekday, collection days will be delayed by one day. For example, if Christmas Day is on a Wednesday, collection services for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be delayed one day.
- Holidays that fall on a weekend DO NOT delay collection services.
- The observed holidays are:
New Years Day
Labor Day
Memorial Day
Thanksgiving Day
Independence Day
Christmas Day
NOTE: These rules and limits must be followed in order for all refuse items to be picked up. Items that do not follow the rules will be left at the curb and the City may issue a violation citation.
Yard Waste:
Yard waste service is provided City of Saginaw residents from April 1 to November 30. Yard waste includes grass, leaves, sod without dirt, twigs and brush/ branches less than 2" diameter.
Place materials in paper yard waste bags or rigid containers marked with a "Yard Waste" sticker, available from City Hall or the Public Services Department. All branches must be less than 2" diameter and cut to fit within the bag or can.
Christmas trees will be collected during January. All tinsel, ornaments, hooks, lights, ropes and bags must be removed.
Tires:
Tires are not included in Saginaw's residential refuse collection service.
Take tires to any tire retailer for a small fee per tire, or contact Saginaw County Mosquito Abatement at 755-5751 for dates of their annual summer tire drives.
Questions / Missed Pick-Ups
Residents with garbage questions or a missed pick-up, call:
MMWA - 781-9555
Waste Management 752-4100
Landfill-Banned Residential Refuse Materials
Under a Michigan solid waste law implemented November 2004, a number of residential waste items may no longer be disposed of in landfills. Garbage haulers are prohibited from picking these items up as trash, and face stiff fines if they dump loads with these materials in the landfill.
To help residents properly dispose of these banned items, the Mid Michigan Waste Authority (MMWA) prepared this information guide. Detailed information on these and many other solid waste and recycling issues is included in MMWA's Bin IT, Bag It, Can IT! Guide. Contact MMWA at 989-781-9555 to request a copy.
Beverage Containers
The landfill ban covers beverage containers up to and including 1 gallon size that hold any of the following:
- soft drink
- soda water
- carbonated waters
- nonalcoholic carbonated drink
- beer and ale
- all malt beverages
- mixed wine drink
- mixed spirit drink
To properly handle these containers, return them for the $0.10 deposit, if applicable, or recycle through your curbside recycling program. Do not place them in your garbage.
This ban does not apply to green glass containers before June 1, 2007; please put green glass in recycling bin.
Yard Waste
Yard waste is defined as leaves, grass clippings, vegetable or other garden debris, shrubbery and brush. Tree trimmings, less than 4 feet long and 2 inches in diameter, are also included.
Use yard clippings as mulch or practice backyard composting if possible. If your community offers yard waste service, make sure to follow the preparation rules correctly when placing yard waste materials curbside for pick-up.
Automotive Products
Used Motor Oil
In the Saginaw area, many oil change locations will accept used motor oil from residents. Used motor oil may also be dropped off at the recycling facilities in Saginaw. Look in the Yellow Pages and call an oil change business in your area to ask if they accept this material.
Motor Vehicle Tires
Whole tires cannot be set out under the regular residential refuse program. In order to be collected for landfill disposal, tires must be cut into pieces and bagged or set at the curb. Limit two cut tires per household.
Most tire retailers take back old tires for a fee when new tires are purchased. Call your local tire retailer. Also, Saginaw County Mosquito Abatement hosts a number of tire collections each year. Residents can bring up to 10 tires; no rims allowed.
Business are not included under these programs. For information on business-generated tires, visit www.michigan.gov/deqwaste, "scrap tires".
Lead-Acid Batteries
Turn in old lead acid batteries when purchasing a new battery. Businesses that sell lead acid batteries are required by law to accept used batteries for recycling. These batteries can also be brought to a MMWA Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) drop-off event, at no charge, for recycling. Call MMWA for details.
Medical Waste
Home generated needles and syringes (sharps), must be packaged and labeled properly in order to be included through the curbside refuse program.
Put sharps in a purchased sharps container, an empty coffee can, or an empty laundry detergent or bleach bottle. When the container is full, tape the lid down with duct tape or packing tape. Label the container with the words "MEDICAL WASTE" or "SHARPS CONTAINER".
www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-ead-tas-newsharps.pdf has a document on sharps management called "The Point is Needles Hurt". For a list of medical waste disposal services, go to www.michigan.gov/deqwaste and select "Medical Waaste".
Asbestos
Homeowners can legally remove asbestos from their own residences, but specific precautions must be taken and the waste must go to a licensed disposal site. Contact your landfill to find out if they can accept the waste or what special labeling or packaging requirements.
For information about homeowner asbestos removal, visit the MDEQ website at www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/453.html. For information on asbestos handleing regulations, go to www.michigan.gov/deq, "AIR", then "Compliance", then "Asbestos NESHAP Program."