Solid Waste Services

UPDATE: MARCH 26, 2020
Due to the recent increase in the volume of residential solid waste, the Cities of Alma and St. Louis must temporarily suspend large (bulk) item disposal. This includes disposal of large items such as mattresses, large pieces of furniture and appliances. Beginning on March 30th, the service will be suspended for an initial period of 30 days. This is being done to reduce the overall volume of refuse and conserve capacity for disposing of normal household waste which is essential to public health and safety. Since recycling services were previously suspended, please continue to bag all recycling along with your garbage. The Cities are working with Republic Services to stay on top of this situation and will provide additional guidance as we receive it.

March 18, 2020
The Cities of Alma and St. Louis have received communication from their recycling processor, Isabella County, that all recycling processing will be suspended until further notice. This announcement is linked to the COVID-19 precautions to limit the risk to county employees.

At this time, it has been determined the virus can spread through hard surfaces such as paper, plastics and other recyclable materials according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other health experts.

Based on this information our solid waste contractor, Republic Services, will be collecting the Recycling at the same time as the garbage until the Isabella County recycling processing facility comes back online.

We advise at this time for our residents to bag all recycling along with your garbage, to keep the material contained during collection. The Cities are working with the Republic Services and Isabella County to stay on top of this situation and will provide additional guidance as we receive it.

Isabella County, City of Alma, City of St. Louis & Republic Services our taking the coronavirus seriously. We are closely monitoring CDC, FEMA and local, state and federal guidance.

Yard waste will be collected from the first Monday in April through the third full week of October of each year in accordance with the following procedures:

All yard waste must be separated from recycling materials and general refuse at the curbside.

All grass clippings, leaves and other small loose trimmings from shrubs, trees or bushes must be placed in paper sacks or cardboard boxes (mandatory biodegradable containers) and/or multi-use containers clearly and permanently marked for "Yardwaste" (lettering 6 inch minimum) with a maximum size of 32 gallons and weight of 50 pounds. Multi-use containers cannot be 55-gallon drums nor 'cut down' barrels.

All tree limbs must be placed in piles, not bundled, with all stems lying in the same direction. Large limbs, up to four (4) inches in diameter must be delimbed to reduce size for sufficient handling.
Large tree limbs over four (4) inches in diameter, tree stumps, tree roots, or excessive quantities of branches from heavy tree trimming or tree removal will NOT be collected. Plastic bags and unmarked containers will not be collected.

Placement of yardwaste shall not obstruct sidewalks or public streets.

Yardwaste material will be collected on each resident's normal garbage collection day. Materials should be placed out by 6:00 a.m. to ensure pickup.

The City of Alma provides weekly curbside collection of solid waste for all single and two family residential properties in the City.

The services are provided to solid waste customers only. Find a map and schedule of collection days under Solid Waste Information in the "Documents and Links" tabs shown on this page.

Should a collection day fall on a holiday (New Years's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas) or on a Sunday, collections will be delayed one day.

The cost of the service is $22.15 per month (effective July 1, 2018) which includes the solid waste, recycling and yard waste programs, leaf collection, Christmas tree collection and the household hazardous waste program.

Normal household waste will be collected in four operations: Garbage and rubbish, recyclables, yard waste and special services. To insure collection, all waste must be separated, placed in approved containers and set out next to the road by 6:00 a.m. of the collection day but not before 12:00 noon of the preceding day. All emptied containers must be removed on the day of collection.

The City will not pick up hot ashes, hazardous waste, auto parts, brick, stones, broken concrete, asphalt, construction debris or tires as part of the regular weekly collection.

In addition, residents may set out one large item per week for disposal. Large items may consist of furniture, appliances and carpeting meeting the weight and size limitation noted herein.

All refuse not placed in containers must be securely bundled so as not to exceed 24 inches in diameter, 48 inches in length or 50 pounds in weight. Appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners must have all refrigerants (freon) removed prior to collection. A certification must be affixed to the appliance by a licensed contractor to confirm the freon has been properly removed.

For more information on collection services, please see Alma's Residential Solid Waste Collection Services booklet under Solid Waste Information in the "Documents and Links" tabs on this page..