Yard Material Collection in London - FAQs

The City of London provides a yard material collection program using a "Green Week" collection system. Materials collected include plant, tree, and hedge trimmings as well as brush and leaves. Sod, stumps, grass clippings, rocks, dirt, and garbage will not be collected.

The Waste Management By-Law WM-12 (PDF) governs the collection of municipal garbage, recyclables and yard materials.

How can I dispose of yard materials? Paper bag set-out
How should I package the yard materials?
What do I do with my grass clippings?
Are leaves vacuumed at the curb?
Where are the depots and when are they open?
When is the collection scheduled?
Why were my yard materials not picked up?
What should I do with my Halloween pumpkins?
What should I do with my Christmas tree?
Where can I get a composter?
Where can I get compost made from the City's leaf and yard materials?
Contact us

How can I dispose of yard materials?

There are two ways to dispose of yard materials. The City provides curbside collection during dedicated weeks or you can take your yard materials to a depot.

Curbside collection - see your Waste Reduction & Conservation Calendar for the dedicated "Green Weeks" that indicate yard material collection. Place yard materials at the curb by 7 a.m. on Monday of the dedicated collection week. Pick-up can take place anytime during the week (including Saturday) and will only occur once during that week.
Depots - there are three EnviroDepots available for the drop-off of residential yard materials.

How should I package the yard materials?

Compostable Bags Required for Yard Material Collection
The City of London requires residents to use certified compostable bags, paper bags, or reusable containers for their yard material collection. Residents will no longer be permitted to use standard, non-compostable, plastic bags for their yard materials.

Acceptable containers are:
1. Certified compostable bags (see guidelines below)
2. Paper yard material bags
3. Reusable containers (e.g. garbage pails)

Acceptable certified compostable bags will be identified by one of the two logos identified below:

Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)
US Composting Council

Bureau de Normalisation du Quebec (BNQ)

Plastic bags that are labeled 'degradable', 'biodegradable' or 'oxo-degradable', but do not carry the BPI or BNQ logos are not accepted. Please note, paper bags are accepted in our programs but do not carry these logos. By using paper bags, certified compostable bags or reusable containers, you will be helping to produce better quality compost and reduce the cost of the composting process. Also try mulching your fall leaves into your lawn by mowing over them. The leaves will break down and return nutrients and carbon rich organic matter back to your soil. Save fall leaves to add to your backyard composter in layers with kitchen scraps (eg. fruit, vegetables, peelings, etc).
Tie brush in bundles; the branches must be less than 1 meter (39 inches) in length and each branch less than 10 centimeters (or 4 inches) in diameter.
Or deliver yard materials to one of London's Community EnviroDepots. At the Depot, branches do not have to be tied but must be less than 1 meter (39 inches) in length and each branch less than 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter.

What do I do with my grass clippings?

Leave them on your lawn! This adds nutrients to the soil and helps to hold moisture in your lawn. By "grass cycling" you will fortify and strengthen your turf naturally.

There is no curbside collection for grass clippings. Bagged grass clippings can be taken to the Community EnviroDepots for $1.50 per bag.

Are leaves vacuumed at the curb?

Loose leaf vacuum service in the core area was discontinued in 2003 to reduce program costs. The fall leaf collection service is now standardized so that all City residents receive the same service. This saves the City $140,000 each year, which is used to offset other program costs.

Where are the Depots and when are they open?

See City of London Depots for locations and hours of operation.

When is collection scheduled?

The Waste Reduction and Conservation Calendar contains the scheduled dates for garbage and recycling collection, the scheduled weeks for yard materials collection and the days that the Household Special Waste Depot is open. It also contains instructions to participate in the City's waste management programs.

Why were my yard materials not picked up?

Your yard materials may not have been collected for a number reasons including:

Grass clippings are not collected curbside. See City of London Depots for drop-off locations.
Yard materials must be set out for collection in reusable containers, kraft paper bags or Certified Compostable bags featuring a logo identified above.
Branches must be tied in bundles. Branches longer than 1 meter (or 39 inches) in length and/or greater than 10 centimeters (or 4 inches) in diameter will not be collected.
Stumps, sod, dirt, and rocks are not collected. See the back of the Waste Reduction & Conservation Calendar for private disposal locations for these items.

What should I do with Hallowe'en pumpkins?

Residents that receive curbside leaf and yard material collection can also set their Hallowe'en pumpkin out on the same collection week. Remove the candle and any metal or plastic from the pumpkin and place in a container with yard materials or fall leaves. Pumpkins are heavy, so be sure the container is not over the weight limit of 20 kilograms (44 lbs). If you have missed your collection, or do not have access to curbside pickup, the EnviroDepots will accept pumpkins for composting.

What should I do with my Christmas tree?

Depots are set up throughout the city for the first week in the new year to collect trees for chipping and composting. Trees will be collected as garbage if they are set out at the curb. The trees will not be collected during the week after Christmas because of the increased amount of household garbage at the curb. If you set your tree at the curb for collection, make sure that it doesn't get buried in snow or frozen to the ground or it will not be collected.

Where can I get a composter?

Backyard composters are available for City of London residents to purchase ($30 each, taxes included, cash only please) at the Oxford Street Community EnviroDepot and the Clarke Road Community EnviroDepot. You can also purchase a composter at some hardware stores or garden centers throughout London.

Where can I get compost made from the City's leaf and yard materials

Compost made from yard materials collected curbside and from the depots is available in the spring at various compost events. These events will be advertised in various ways including the City's website. Bagged compost is available at the Community EnviroDepots and you can get larger quantities of compost from the processing contractor, Try Recycling.