Michigan Landfills Are Off-Limits to Bagged Leaves and Grass, and EGLE Says Only Diseased, Infested or Invasive Yard Clippings Are the Exception

What does a Michigan landfill do with a paper bag of raked leaves? Under state law, it is not supposed to take it. Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy lists yard clippings, leaves and grass among the materials barred from landfills, and the agency’s guidance says “only yard clippings that are diseased, infested, or part of an invasive species control program can be landfilled,” according to EGLE’s landfill-prohibited-materials guidance.

For a homeowner in the middle of leaf season, that turns a chore into a question about where the pile ends up. EGLE’s answer is the compost pile.

What Section 11514 Says

The prohibition sits in Section 11514 of Part 115 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, which EGLE cites in its guidance. The text of the law on the Michigan Legislature’s site says a person may not knowingly deliver yard waste to a landfill, and a landfill owner or operator may not knowingly allow it to be disposed of there.

The statute draws the line at “more than a de minimis amount” of yard waste, unless it meets requirements in a separate section of the act, and it applies the same limit to municipal solid waste incinerators. The excerpt on the Legislature’s site does not state penalties.

EGLE’s guidance, marked as revised in March 2021, puts the exceptions in plain terms: diseased clippings, infested clippings, and clippings that are part of an invasive species control program. The same guidance lists a long run of other materials that landfills must also turn away, including asbestos, beverage containers, lead acid batteries, medical waste, scrap tires and used oil.

Compost It Onsite or Haul It to a Facility

EGLE’s guidance says grass, leaves, sticks and landscape trimmings “should be composted onsite or taken to a composting facility.” It points residents to their city, township or trash vendor for collection, and says large registered composting facilities are listed at Michigan.gov/EGLECompost, with smaller ones in the Michigan Recycling Directory.

EGLE’s home-composting guide, Reap a Heap of Benefits, says the state has kept yard clippings out of landfills since 1995 because they add bulk and can create methane and polluted runoff. The guide lists saving money on bags and soil products, improving soil and conserving water among the benefits of composting at home. The Michigan State University bulletin described below suggests layering green materials such as clippings, weeds and kitchen scraps with brown materials such as leaves and soil.

Why Michigan Pulled Clippings Out of the Trash

The size of the problem helps explain the rule. A Michigan State University Extension bulletin, reproduced by the Waterford Township website, says a law took effect in 1994 banning grass clippings, tree leaves, branches and twigs from Michigan landfills, and that yard waste made up about 20 to 25 percent of the state’s trash before the ban. EGLE’s guide dates the ban to 1995, so the start of the rule is described slightly differently from one state document to the next.

A radio-station explainer, WFMK’s look at whether leaves can go in the garbage, traces the rule to a 1987 Department of Natural Resources study and quotes legislation citing concern that yard waste would outstrip the limited capacity of landfills. It states no fines or penalties.

Mowing Leaves Back Into the Lawn

The MSU bulletin offers a way to skip the bag altogether. It says MSU research found mowing leaves back into the turf works, with studies mulching more than 6 inches of leaves with no adverse effects on oak or maple. For best results, it recommends a mulching mower, a raised mowing height and dry leaves. It gives 2.5 to 3.5 inches as the recommended height for most lawns.

The bulletin also recommends leaving grass clippings on the lawn, where they return nutrients, especially nitrogen, and spreading them out so piles do not smother the turf. Clippings used as mulch should stay away from tender young plants, since they can heat up as they decompose, and clippings from a lawn treated with herbicide should wait at least two weeks, according to the bulletin. For lawn owners who prefer to keep leaves on the property, the same approach sits behind shredded leaves as winter mulch for garden beds.

Burning Is Not the Way Out

EGLE’s composting guide also says that since 1995, open burning of grass clippings and leaves has been prohibited in municipalities of 7,500 or more people unless a local ordinance allows it. For homeowners in larger towns, that rules out the old backyard burn pile as a way around the landfill ban, and it leaves composting, mulching and municipal collection as the main routes.

A homeowner who is unsure about a local pickup schedule or bag rules can check with the city or township, which EGLE says to do. Collection programs and drop-off sites vary by community, while the landfill rule itself is set statewide.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: David Morris – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons