Nebraska trash pickup is run by cities, counties and private haulers, not by the state.
Your pickup day comes from your city’s or hauler’s own lookup. Among the largest cities, Omaha collects curbside itself; Bellevue contracts a private hauler; in Lincoln residents hire their own hauler. Nebraska has a ban on yard waste in landfills, but no statewide bottle deposit, PaintCare paint, mattress or electronics recycling program.
Find your city
The largest Nebraska cities and their official collection pages:
- Omaha: City of Omaha Public Works Department, Environmental Quality Division. The city’s solid waste contractor FCC Environmental Services collects residential garbage, recyclables and yardwaste, and materials must be at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on the collection day. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- Lincoln: no city collection: residents contract private haulers (City of Lincoln Transportation and Utilities, Solid Waste Management runs the landfill, transfer station and drop-off sites). The city publishes the list of garbage and recycling collectors that Lincoln residents hire directly. Official page ↗
- Bellevue: City of Bellevue (curbside service under city contract with Papillion Sanitation and Recycling Services). The city contract with Papillion Sanitation covers trash, yard waste and recycling for all single-family and duplex residents inside the city limits, and glass must be taken to a drop-off site instead. Official page ↗
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Who collects in Nebraska
- Besides yard waste, Nebraska bans waste oil, lead-acid batteries, household appliances, waste tires and unregulated hazardous waste from landfills statewide. Source ↗
- Lincoln and Omaha have permanent household hazardous waste collection facilities (Haz to Go and Under the Sink), while other Nebraska communities hold periodic collections. Source ↗
National haulers (Republic Services, WM, Waste Connections) hold contracts in many places; the city or county names the hauler for each street.
State-level rules
- Container deposit: No statewide container deposit law. Nebraska is not among the ten states with a beverage container deposit law (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont). Source ↗
- Paint: Not a PaintCare state. PaintCare says it operates programs in twelve states and the District of Columbia, and Nebraska is not one of them. Leftover paint goes through the local household hazardous waste program; see paint. Source ↗
- Mattresses: No statewide mattress take-back program. The Mattress Recycling Council’s Bye Bye Mattress program operates only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. See mattresses. Source ↗
- Electronics: No statewide electronics law. The state agency says home electronics are not banned from Nebraska landfills, though it encourages residents to find an e-waste recycler instead. Source ↗
- Yard waste: Banned from landfills statewide. Yard waste (leaves and grass clippings) cannot be landfilled from April 1 through November 30 under a statewide ban in effect since 1994; landfills may accept it from December 1 through March 31. Source ↗
State agency
- State agency: Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment (DWEE), Land Management Division - Integrated Waste Management Program. DWEE permits and inspects Nebraska’s landfills, transfer stations, compost sites and material recovery facilities, investigates citizen complaints, and funds local recycling and waste reduction through grant programs. Official website ↗
- Find your local program: DWEE list of permitted solid waste facilities ↗
Flag of Nebraska. Public-domain artwork. Artwork: Liamgabby79. Source. Resized to 480 pixels wide.
Materials with their own rules
Paint · Lithium-ion batteries · Household hazardous waste · Mattresses · Pizza boxes · Christmas trees
Neighboring states
Colorado · Iowa · Kansas · Missouri · South Dakota · Wyoming
Sources
Official pages used: dwee.nebraska.gov · dwee.nebraska.gov · publicworks.cityofomaha.org · wasteline.org · lincoln.ne.gov · lincoln.ne.gov · bellevue.net · cga.ct.gov · paintcare.org · byebyemattress.com · dwee.nebraska.gov · dwee.nebraska.gov.
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