Fall Leaves and Yard Trim Recycling

It's the season for cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice-flavored food and—most importantly for our Bureau­­—fall leaves! According to a recent waste characterization study, over 40 percent of Baltimore County’s residential waste stream is composed of organic material, which includes leaves and other yard trimmings. Not only do these materials generate large amounts of greenhouse gases if landfilled, they are simply too valuable to be thrown away. Read on to discover several ways you can make the most of your fall leaves and other yard materials. 

Roughly two-thirds of single-family and townhomes in the County receive a separate yard material collection during “growing season” each year. The leaves, grass and trimmings collected on these days are transported to the Eastern Sanitary Landfill (ESL) in White Marsh, home to the County’s yard material composting facility. Because plastic bags greatly reduce the quality of compost produced at this facility, residents are required to use heavy-duty paper lawn and leaf bags for their “Y” day set-outs. The paper bags are composted with their contents, leading to a quality product that is offered to residents, free of charge (first come, first served) at the residential drop-off area of ESL.

Residents are also welcome to bring their yard materials to County drop-off centers directly for composting or mulching, as long as the materials are not in plastic bags.

Looking for an even simpler way to handle fall leaves without stepping out of your yard? Consider mowing over the material and using the chopped leaves as mulch for garden beds. Adopting low-maintenance ground cover as a lawn alternative is another way to reduce generation of materials like grass clippings.

Last, but not least, you can compost your yard materials at home. Learn more about backyard composting from Baltimore County and the local experts at the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Program.