City to Begin Issuing Citations for Improper Trash Setout in Phase One

Published on June 16, 2023

The City of Syracuse Department of Public Works (DPW) announced it will start issuing citations beginning the week of Monday, June 19 to property owners who don’t follow setout requirements for new uniform trash carts. Fines are up to $350 for households that fail to comply.

The City introduced new covered trash carts for semi-automated pickup to nearly 7,000 Phase One properties on June 5. During the first two weeks of the rollout, sanitation crews issued written warnings and collected trash at households that didn’t meet requirements. According to DPW, the most common mistakes so far are: not using the city-provided trash cart; leaving additional trash outside the new cart; filling carts so the cover doesn’t close; and failing to bag all trash placed in the carts.

Going forward, DPW will not pick up trash where requirements aren’t followed and will issue a citation notice. Property owners will have 24 hours to pull back their trash setout to avoid having to pay the fine. The trash can be set out properly for pick up the following week. Excess trash can also be transported to an Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency drop-off site. Locations and fee information is at ocrra.org.

“At this point, most properties are abiding by the setout requirements. We are grateful to Phase One property owners for adapting to the carts so quickly,” said Jeremy Robinson, DPW commissioner. “We don’t want to issue citations, so we urge residents to review the information materials distributed with the carts or available on the city website.”

The city’s requirements for trash setouts with the new carts are:

• Do place only bagged waste in your carts. Unbagged materials are unacceptable.
• Do securely close the cart lid to prevent litter and scavenging.
• On your regular collection day, do place your cart at the end of your driveway or in front of your house between the sidewalk and street. 
• Do store your cart on the side of the house/garage, behind the house garage, or in your garage when it is not your collection day. 
• Call Cityline (315-448-2489) if you have an item that does not fit in your cart.
• Don’t place bags of waste outside of your cart. This will be considered an illegal setout and you may be cited and fined.
• Don’t store your cart in front of your residence.
• Don’t place recyclables in your cart. Recycling carts will be rolled out to the City in 2024. Continue to use your current recycling container.
• Don’t place prohibited items, such as yard waste, hazardous/toxic waste, paint, TVs and other electronics, demolition waste, medical/pathological waste, explosives or radioactive materials in your cart.

More information about the new trash cart program is at syr.gov/carts.