ASK A LOCAL

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Q: Every year brown paper leaf bags turn up and I never know who brought them or what the rules are. What is the actual system?

The actual system is more generous than most people realize, and more specific.

The bags come to you. According to the Town, during the last week of October through the first week of November, leaf bags are packaged and distributed by Department of Public Works employees to every Town of Babylon resident and property owner. You do not request them. You do not buy them. They arrive. So the bags for this season are days away.

They go out on your regular yard waste day. Once a bag is full, put it curbside for your normal yard waste collection — the Town does not run a separate leaf truck for the bags. Yard waste is collected weekdays, twelve months a year, and which weekday is yours depends on your Yard Waste Zone (YWZ). If you have never looked yours up, the zone map and the address lookup are on the Town’s recycling pages.

Now the rules that decide whether your pile gets taken.

Ten items a week. That is the cap — no more than ten yard waste items out per week. An item is a bag or a bundle.

Under 50 pounds. Bags of grass and leaves have to weigh less than fifty pounds. Wet leaves get heavy faster than anyone expects; if you can barely lift it, neither can the crew, and it stays on your curb.

Branches: bundled, tied, under four feet, under 50 pounds, and under four inches in diameter.

No dirt, sod or rocks. They cannot be collected, full stop. This is the single most common reason a pile is left behind.

No mixing, and no cardboard boxes. Yard waste mixed with garbage will not be taken, and neither will yard waste put out in a cardboard box.

Bamboo is garbage. Not yard waste. It goes out with the regular trash.

And while we are here, the Christmas rule, because you will want it in ten weeks: real, nursery-grown trees are picked up on the same days as your yard waste, with every ornament and light removed. Artificial trees go out on a regular garbage day, also stripped.

Numbers worth saving. Residential Recycling Center, 631-249-9346 or 631-249-9347 — call them if your bags have not shown up by the second week of November, or if you are unsure about an item. Garbage collection is handled by EnCon Industries, 631-491-3200. Town Hall is 631-957-3000.

Got a question about living in the Town of Babylon? Send it to us and we will chase the answer down.

Sources: Town of Babylon, Yard Waste Collection Information · 2026 Recycling Calendar