Georgia dumpster and disposal rules
Georgia bans yard trimmings from most landfills — but land-clearing debris is legally not yard trimmings, so the trees and stumps from clearing a lot fall outside the ban entirely. The definition does more work here than the prohibition does.
How Georgia controls what you can throw away
O.C.G.A. 12-8-40.2 has restricted yard trimmings disposal since 1 September 1996. It reaches lined municipal solid waste landfills and any landfill that took a vertical expansion under the Act — including construction and demolition landfills so expanded, which are then classified as MSW landfills. It does not reach private industry landfills accepting only their own waste, or inert waste landfills operating by permit-by-rule. The decisive detail is the statutory definition at O.C.G.A. 12-8-22(42): yard trimmings means leaves, brush, grass clippings, shrub and tree prunings, discarded Christmas trees, nursery and greenhouse vegetative residuals and vegetative matter from landscaping. Land-clearing debris — trees, stumps and limbs — is not within that definition and is therefore exempt, though the state recommends managing it the same way. Scrap tires and lead-acid batteries are separately kept out of Georgia municipal solid waste landfills.
Citation: O.C.G.A. 12-8-40.2
Materials banned from disposal
- Yard trimmings — at lined MSW landfills and any that took a vertical expansion, since 1 September 1996
- Scrap tires
- Lead-acid batteries
The exception worth knowing
Land-clearing debris is the exception that matters on a construction job. Trees, stumps and limbs are not yard trimmings under the statutory definition, so a lot being cleared for building is not producing banned material — while the same site's landscaping offcuts afterwards would be. The ban also does not reach private industry landfills taking only their own waste, or inert waste landfills operating by permit-by-rule.
What this means for how you order a container
On a Georgia site, sort by origin rather than by appearance. Stumps and limbs from clearing may go in the container; the grass and prunings from finishing the landscaping may not. They look like the same pile and the statute treats them as different materials.
Materials with a Georgia-specific answer
- Conditional
Yard waste, brush and branches
Many haulers take yard waste in a general container; many others require a dedicated green-waste container because the material has a separate compost outlet. Leaf and yard waste is banned from disposal in Massachusetts, and a majority of states have some form of yard-waste landfill restriction.
North Carolina: Yard trash is banned unless it is source separated and taken to a facility that maintains its own yard trash composting operation. (N.C.G.S. 130A-309.10)
Massachusetts: Leaf and yard waste is a banned material. (310 CMR 19.017)
Georgia: Banned since 1 September 1996 from lined municipal solid waste landfills and from any that took a vertical expansion under the Act — including C&D landfills so expanded, which are then classified as MSW landfills. Private industry landfills taking only their own waste, and inert waste landfills operating by permit-by-rule, are outside it. Critically, land-clearing debris is legally NOT yard trimmings under O.C.G.A. 12-8-22(42), so trees, stumps and limbs from clearing a lot fall outside the ban entirely. (O.C.G.A. 12-8-40.2; definition at 12-8-22(42))
Illinois: Landscape waste has been banned from Illinois landfills since 1 July 1990 — one of the earliest such bans in the country. (Illinois EPA — banned since 1 July 1990)
Michigan: Yard clippings must be composted on site or taken to a composting facility. Only clippings that are diseased, infested, or part of an invasive species control programme may be landfilled. The rule defines them precisely: leaves, grass, garden debris, shrubbery, brush or tree trimmings under 4 feet long and 2 inches in diameter. (NREPA 1994 PA 451, Part 115, s. 11514)
Florida: Banned from lined Class I landfills — unless that landfill runs an active gas-collection system and puts the gas to beneficial use, in which case yard trash may be accepted. So the answer turns on which facility your hauler tips at, not on what is in your container. (Fla. Stat. 403.708(12)(c))
We have not verified this material against your state’s own regulator. That means unknown, not allowed — check with your state before you load it.
Varies by state Yard and green waste NC, MA, GA, IL, MI, FL - Prohibited
Tires
Whole tires are restricted from landfill disposal in most states because they trap methane and float back to the surface of a capped cell. Nearly every hauler refuses them in a general container, and where they are accepted it is at a per-tire fee.
North Carolina: Whole scrap tires are banned. The ban does not reach whole solid rubber coverings. (N.C.G.S. 130A-309.58(b))
Massachusetts: Whole tires are a banned material. Shredded tires are not covered by the ban. (310 CMR 19.017)
Ohio: Scrap tires are prohibited from landfill disposal, with limited exceptions for permitted scrap tire facilities. (ORC ch. 3734 — scrap tire programme)
Georgia: Scrap tires are banned from entering Georgia landfills. (Georgia EPD — tire management)
Illinois: Used tires have been banned from Illinois landfills since 1 July 1994. (Illinois EPA — banned since 1 July 1994)
Michigan: Whole motor vehicle tires are prohibited, but a Michigan landfill may accept them once they are cut in half or otherwise shredded, cut or chipped. As in North Carolina, the word "whole" is doing the work — processing the tire changes the answer. (NREPA 1994 PA 451, Part 115, s. 11514)
We have not verified this material against your state’s own regulator. That means unknown, not allowed — check with your state before you load it.
Varies by state Automotive NC, MA, OH, GA, IL, MI - Prohibited
Car batteries and lead-acid batteries
Managed as universal waste under the federal rules at 40 CFR Part 273, and banned from disposal in Massachusetts by name. No hauler will take one knowingly.
North Carolina: Lead-acid batteries have their own banning statute, separate from the general disposal ban list. (N.C.G.S. 130A-309.70)
Massachusetts: Lead-acid batteries are a banned material. (310 CMR 19.017)
Ohio: No person may commingle a used lead-acid battery with solid waste or dispose of one at a solid waste or hazardous waste facility. The statute names the permitted routes instead — a battery collection or recycling entity, or one operating under rules adopted under ORC 3734.12. (ORC 3734.911)
Georgia: Lead-acid batteries are among the wastes that must be kept out of Georgia municipal solid waste landfills. (Georgia EPD — prohibited wastes)
Pennsylvania: Lead-acid batteries may not be disposed at a municipal waste landfill, stated flatly and without condition. (25 Pa. Code s. 273.201(h))
Illinois: Banned from Illinois landfills since 1 September 1990. (Illinois EPA — banned since 1 September 1990)
Florida: Banned from landfills and, uniquely, from waste-to-energy facilities as well. Retailers selling lead-acid batteries must accept used ones as trade-ins. (Fla. Stat. 403.708(12)(a))
Federal rule Hazardous and regulated NC, MA, OH, GA, PA, IL, FL
How Georgia compares with the other states we have read
A state rule only means something next to another one. The table shows every state whose rules we have read at the agency that issued them, with how many materials each one changes the answer for — which is the fastest way to see whether you are in a strict jurisdiction or a permissive one.
| State | Regulator | Materials it changes | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Florida DEP | 5 | Fla. Stat. 403.708(12) |
| New York | NYSDEC | 1 | ECL 27-2611; 6 NYCRR 368-3.13 |
| Illinois | Illinois EPA | 6 | Illinois EPA — Disposal Methods |
| Michigan | Michigan EGLE | 2 | NREPA 1994 PA 451, Part 115, s. 11514 |
| Pennsylvania | PA DEP | 5 | 25 Pa. Code s. 273.201 |
| Ohio | Ohio EPA | 2 | ORC 3734.911 |
| Georgia this page | Georgia EPD | 3 | O.C.G.A. 12-8-40.2 |
| North Carolina | NCDEQ | 11 | N.C.G.S. 130A-309.10 |
| Massachusetts | MassDEP | 14 | 310 CMR 19.017 |
| California | CalRecycle | 1 | CALGreen — California Green Building Standards Code |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin DNR | 0 | Wis. Stat. ch. 289 |
Three states is deliberately few. A state appears here only after its rule was read at the issuing agency, because the alternative — restating what other sites say about the other forty-seven — is how wrong answers spread. States not listed are unverified, never permitted.
What this does not tell you
A state rule sets the floor, not the whole answer. Your city can be stricter, and the permit for putting a container in the street is a municipal matter that has nothing to do with Georgia EPD — different department, different timetable, different document. And the prohibited-items list attached to your rental agreement is stricter again in almost every case, because a hauler refuses things no statute mentions.
The practical order is therefore: check the state rule for what is banned outright, check your city for whether placement needs a permit, and read the rental agreement for everything else. Only the first of those three is on this page, and it is the one that changes least often.
There is also a limit on what any state page can tell you about money. Statutory fees per ton are public and cited above where they exist, but the gate rate a facility actually charges is a commercial price negotiated per account, and it is the larger of the two numbers. A state can tell you what surcharge rides on every ton; only a hauler can tell you what the ton costs.
What a state page is genuinely good for is the question of whether your load is legal at all, and that is worth checking before you order rather than after the truck has gone. A banned material found at the disposal facility is rejected against the account that hired the container, and the reason enforcement lands there rather than in your driveway is that the facility is the party whose permit is at risk.
Sources
- Primary source Yard Trimmings Management — O.C.G.A. 12-8-40.2 — Georgia Environmental Protection Division · last reviewed 2026-08-19
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