Follow the Sanitation Department on Facebook for up-to-date announcements.
The composite site is Opened until November 30, 2022. Normal operation hours during the season are,
7 days a week, 8 AM to 8 PM until September 30th of 2022. On October 1st through November 30th the hours of operation are 7 AM to 7 PM.
As a reminder, the site is located at 2745 Independence Avenue and is open ONLY to residents of Waterloo.
Questions may be directed to the Sanitation Department at (319) 291-4455.
Waterloo offers 3 different sizes of garbage carts, monthly charges are:
Garbage Disposal
The City of Waterloo garbage trucks pick up garbage once a week for residents. Collection starts at 6:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. Please have your garbage carts out the night before or before 6:00 a.m. on your garbage day. Please remove garbage cart from curb by 8:00 p.m.
32-gallon cart - $ 10.00
64-gallon cart - $11.75
96-gallon cart - $17.75
If you need to exchange your cart for a different size, please contact our office.
Radio Frequency Identification program (RFID)
The City of Waterloo’s Public Works Department announces the Radio Frequency Identification Program (RDID Program) is now fully operational for curbside garbage services!
Waterloo’s new system keeps track of every address for the driver, verifying if each cart is serviced. This saves valuable time and resources. Drivers will no longer go back for carts put out late or filled a second time, dump unregistered carts, dump carts belonging to another address, and the system will know if RFID tags are damaged or tampered with. In addition, this new RFID system can detect if an address has the wrong cart, too many carts, carts not being paid for, carts at the wrong address, etc.
Effective July 19th, 2022 account holders may be fined for the following issues:
- for using wrong carts
- for using an unregistered cart
- for using the wrong size cart
- tampering with RFID tags
However, the City is granting a 30 day amnesty period for residents to return unregistered carts with no penalty.
After August 17th, 2022 offenders will receive the following fines:
- First offense - $250.00
- Subsequent offenses - $500.00
There is now a $20.00 “go back fee” charged to residents who request drivers to return to dump a cart that was not out on time, overloaded, or blocked.
Landlords are encouraged to check the carts at their properties and communicate this information to tenants.
To avoid fines, residents and property owners may return any carts are not registered to the user or property during the amnesty period to Waterloo Public Works, 625 Glenwood St, Waterloo, IA. Carts turned in by August 17th will NOT receive a penalty/fine.
We have red tags available for extra garbage; you are allowed one bag with a red tag on top of your closed garbage cart per week. You can receive five free tags per year per household, if you need more than five free tags you can purchase them for $1.00 a piece. Tags are available at City hall 715 Mulberry St or at Public Works, 625 Glenwood Street.
Read more about Garbage exemptions for low income & elderly citizens and also private hauler here. 
Fall City Wide Clean Up: September 10th 8 AM to 2 PM
Yard Waste Disposal/Curb-side
The curbside yard waste cart program is voluntary and designed to assist residents with debris removal and yard waste clean-up. This cart is designed to hold residential yard waste only as stated by the City and has a maximum capacity of 220 pound.
Refer to the 2022 Yard Waste Program brochure and calendar for further information or call Public Works – 291-4455.
Bulk Item Pick-up
Review the guidelines for Bulk Item Pick-up here. Payment must be made before 4 PM the day before your regular garbage pick up day if you would like the items picked up on that next garbage day. Click here to print a Bulk Item Pick Up form to mail or drop off.
Recycle Program
The curbside recycling program is a voluntary and designed to assist residents with debris removal and collection of recyclables. This program will decrease money spent on landfill space and help improve the environment.
Please call the City of Waterloo, Public Works at 319-291-4455 to request a recycle cart and to participate in this program. To locate your recycle pickup day, please click the following link: https://www.republicservices.com/schedule . You will fill in your address and it will show you the current month and your recycle days. Please contact Republic Services for information regarding schedules at 844-737-8254.
Drop-off Stations: To assist citizens 4 recycle drop-off stations are currently placed throughout the City.
Click the link below to view the drop-off station in Google Maps.
- The South side of Crossroads Mall at 2325 Crossroads Blvd.
- Northeast corner of W. 11th and Black Hawk St., adjacent to the fueling station.
- Singing Bird Lake Park located near the corner of Ansborough and Black Hawk Rd
- Fire Station 1 (ELKS parking lot E 3rd St and Mulberry) 425 E. 3rd Street.
Select a link to view its contents:
- 2022 Yard Waste Calendar (Picture)
- 2022 Yard Waste Calendar (Printable PDF)
- 2022 Recycle Calendar (Picture)
- 2022 Recycle Calendar (PDF)
- Instructions for Yard Waste Container (Picture)
- Guidelines for Bulk Items Pickup (pdf)
- Yard Waste Site Rules (pdf file)
- Black Hawk County Solid Waste (website)
Contact Information
Sanitation Department
625 Glenwood Street
Waterloo, IA 50703
Phone: (319) 291-4455
Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:00am-4:00pm
Republic Services 844-737-8254
