From the end of October through January, City crews operate leaf vacuum trucks and collect paper leaf bags throughout the City. Residents who receive City refuse collection services will receive three passes during the season. Residents are responsible for raking their leaves to the curb or placing leaves into paper leaf bags and placing them curbside for collection. Leaf bags are collected on the same day as regular refuse collection.

A schedule is mailed to residents and posted online every October. The City is sectioned into five collection zones and Old Town has four collection subzones. Each zone will receive three collection passes. To determine your assigned zone, use the Residential Leaf Collection Viewer or refer to the Leaf Collection Zone Map.

If the vacuuming schedule is changed, a new schedule is announced on the City’s website, by an eNews update every Friday, and via T&ES' Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. The information is also available through Alex311.

Zone 5 (Old Town) has been divided into four subzones to make its service more consistent with the rest of the City. The leaf collection program delivers three passes for each zone. This was not the case for Zone 5 in the past. Now, with the introduction of subzones, residents of Zone 5 will have scheduled dates for each of their three passes.

Sometimes inclement weather and equipment problems cause delays. Crews may also take several days to complete leaf pickup in a single zone. You may not see crews on the first day of collection in your zone.

Leaves should be raked to the curb or placed in paper leaf bags for collection. Avoid gutters and storm drains. Do not rake leaves into alleys or service roads.

Residents are responsible for raking leaves to the curb or placing them curbside in paper bags. Commercial landscaping companies are widely available to rake leaves for a fee. The City does not arrange for such services or endorse any particular service provider.

Leaf bags are collected on the same day as regular refuse collection. For instance, if refuse is collected Monday, leaf bags will be collected on Monday, too.

Leaves in plastic bags are considered refuse, collected with normal trash pickup, and disposed of at the Covanta Waste to Energy plant. Plastic bags are unable to be processed into mulch even if they are recyclable, and therefore are considered trash. Please recycle by putting your leaves into paper bags, so they can be recycled into mulch.

Unfortunately, due to staffing constraints, there is no special leaf pickup service that can be scheduled in advance. If you have leaves you would like collected before the next leaf collection pass throughout your neighborhood, please put them in leaf bags for collection on your normal refuse collection day. Leaf bags are available for free at designated City facilities.

We cannot give you an exact date for leaf vacuuming on your street. Inclement weather, as well as staffing and equipment constraints, may cause delays.

Unfortunately, the City does not offer special pickup services. Please check your collection date in your zone.

Crews often complete one side of a street and then return for the other side. There is also a chance that crews may be emptying a truck and will come back to finish the route.

Weather affects the collection schedule. If there is inclement weather, crews will not be able to collect leaves and will need to reschedule for that day. Check online for a weekly updated schedule or sign up for T&ES' Resource Recovery eNews to get weekly updates by e-mail.

If crews have already been through your neighborhood zone, then consider checking for the next pass in your zone or placing leaves in paper bags for collection on your normal refuse collection day.

Leaves are ground into mulch and available to residents in the Spring.

The City posts these signs to inform residents when their collection passes are scheduled.