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Yard waste, branches, leaves and fall cleanup in Lethbridge: green cart, drop-off sites and landfill rates

Where yard waste, branches and leaves go in Lethbridge: green cart rules, the three yard waste sites, landfill rates, leaf and Christmas tree pickup, and weeds.

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Home › Guides › Yard waste, branches, leaves and fall cleanup in Lethbridge: green cart, drop-off sites and landfill rates

The green cart: what goes in and what stays out

Most yard waste in Lethbridge goes in the curbside green cart. The City's organics page accepts garden trimmings, leaves, grass clippings, branches smaller than 5 cm in diameter and 1 m in length, plants without pots, and untreated lumber under the same size limit. Material can go in loose or in paper bags. Plastic bags are not allowed, even the compostable kind.

Some yard waste is exempt. Diseased branches, noxious weeds and elm wood go in a tied bag in the black cart, not the green cart. Rocks, gravel, soil and sod rolls go to the Waste and Recycling Centre. Painted and treated wood, nails, concrete and other construction material are out.

The green cart is collected weekly from May to October and every two weeks from November to April, on a different day from the blue and black carts. The 2026 rate for a 240 L green cart is $5.10 per 30 days.

The three yard waste sites

When branches are too big for the cart, or a fall cleanup fills it three times over, the City's three yard waste sites take the overflow at no charge.

The sites open from April to mid-November, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. In 2026 they opened April 1; in 2025 the last day was November 16.

The sites accept branches up to 6 feet long and 8 inches in diameter, leaves, clean unpainted pumpkins, grass, garden trimmings including weeds, fallen fruit, and disease-free elm prunings. They refuse oversized branches, diseased elm, loose loads of leaves and grass, loads with garbage, commercial vehicles, stumps, lumber and fence posts, and sod and dirt. Use paper bags, not plastic.

When the sites refuse something: Waste and Recycling Centre rates

Stumps, sod, dirt and anything the depots turn away go to the Waste and Recycling Centre at 213044 Township Road 100 in Lethbridge County, open Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. Loads under 50 kg are free.

A mixed load is charged at the highest rate of anything in it, and general waste is $115 per tonne with a $5 minimum. Untarped loads pay an extra $20 up to 1,000 kg or $40 above that.

Lethbridge residents can also use the Free Saturday Disposal Program: up to 250 kg of household and bulky waste each Saturday, year round, free. Residents of Coaldale, Coalhurst, Picture Butte and Taber pay the posted rates.

Leaves in fall, Christmas trees in January

The City runs a fall leaf collection each year. In 2025, residents booked a free pickup through 311 between October 1 and November 7, with collections from October 7 to November 14. Leaves had to be in paper yard waste bags of 10 kg or less, set out at the cart spot 24 hours ahead, up to two collections per household.

Christmas trees are collected curbside on one Saturday. In 2026 that was January 10, with trees out by 7 a.m. and a make-up day of January 17. Decorations, tinsel, plastic and stands must be off, and the trees are chipped into mulch. Since the cart drops to every two weeks in November and the sites close mid-November, finish a big fall cleanup before then.

Noxious weeds, elm wood and burning

Alberta's Weed Control Act says prohibited noxious weeds must be destroyed and noxious weeds must be controlled. The City's weed page repeats that duty under Weed Control Bylaw 6044Y. The Alberta Invasive Species Council says to clip off seed heads, put all plant parts in a double black plastic bag and send it with the garbage, and never compost invasive plants.

Alberta's elm pruning ban runs from April 1 to September 30 every year. Disease-free elm prunings are accepted at the yard waste sites; diseased elm goes to the Waste and Recycling Centre. Alberta says infected elm wood must be burned or buried at least 25 cm deep.

Burning yard waste is not an option in the city. The Lethbridge fire permits page, under Open Burning Bylaw 5858, allows only clean, dry firewood in a backyard fire pit. Leaves, brush or yard waste, and treated or painted lumber, are prohibited, with a $150 fine.

Paid pickup or do it yourself, and a fall checklist

The City's options are free or close to it, so the choice comes down to time, vehicle and volume. A green cart and two leaf pickups handle a normal yard in West Lethbridge or North Lethbridge. A truck with a tarp and a trip to a yard waste site handles a hedge trim or a limb. A paid pickup earns its fee when the pile is bigger than a truck load, when stumps, sod or dirt must go to the landfill by weight, or when the sites are closed. Addresses around Coalhurst, Coaldale, Picture Butte and Taber add drive time both ways.

Work through this list before mid-November.

Need it hauled or installed?

Call (587) 813-0710 or request a call back. This website connects Lethbridge residents with a local, licensed and insured junk removal company. Calls and form submissions go directly to that company, which quotes and completes the work.

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