Leaf Pickup Starts Monday, November 4
Published on October 22, 2024
The City of Kalamazoo will start collecting leaves for city residents on Monday, November 4. Two pickups are scheduled for each household in the city through mid-December.
Residents can place out for collection any volume of leaves, small sticks (less than 4 feet long by 2 inches in diameter), grass clippings, and similar organic debris (including pumpkins). Material can be piled in the curb lawn or at the street or edge of the sidewalk if there is no curb lawn. If the material will be boxed or bagged, residents must use biodegradable materials like cardboard boxes or paper yard waste bags.
Residents should not place leaves near mailboxes, utility poles, landscaped areas, or covering storm drains. Leaves should also never be placed where they will block sidewalks, bike lanes, or streets.
The leaf collection program is scheduled by week, with each collection zone assigned a start date. Leaves should be placed out for collection the night before this date, the Monday of the collection week. This ensures all leaves are out as crews start collecting in each area.
The leaf collection schedule and map are available in the View from the Curb newsletter and online at www.kalamazoocity.org/leaves. Residents can also search for their property address at www.kalamazoocity.org and find all recycling and waste collection information for their household.
Leaf collection is scheduled to give leaves enough time in the season to fall but balance that with the increasing likelihood of snow and winter weather. Since this program is more susceptible to weather delays than other waste collection services, it’s important for residents to follow all program guidelines to prevent avoidable delays in collection. In some cases, program delays may prevent crews from completing the second pickup for all areas of the city. Should this happen, residents can store their leaves and place them out for collection during the Spring Clean-Up in April.
The same city crews that collect leaves are also responsible for plowing streets. In the event of snow or ice, the leaf collection program will be paused until the streets have been cleared.
City residents will also have the option to drop off leaves and other accepted materials at 322 E Stockbridge Avenue. The drop-off location will be available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. while the program is in operation (November 4 through December 20). A staff member will be on-site to make sure the material is acceptable.
There will be no leaf collection or drop off available on Veterans Day (Monday, November 11) or Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 28, and Friday, November 29) when City offices are closed.
Residents are asked to wait to report missed leaf pickups until after crews have completed collection in their area. Missed pickups can be reported by calling 311 or visiting www.kalamazoocity.org/missedpickup.
As leaves are collected, they are transported to a composting facility where they are managed throughout the year as they decompose. The compost eventually becomes the commercially available product Dairy Doo, which is widely used by everyone from hobbyists and residential gardeners to large-scale agricultural facilities.