In Falcon Heights, each property owner is required to hire a trash hauler individually. All residential recycling and trash pick-up takes place on Fridays, unless affected by a holiday. The City of Falcon Heights provides the following Trash Hauler pricing information for your reference. Rates are provided to the city annually and may change without notice. Please contact the individual haulers to confirm pricing and for additional information. Prices updated on December 1, 2023.

The City of Falcon Heights provides materials for interested blocks to self organize their trash collection services. Below you will find information and materials to get you started.

Neighborhood Organized Trash Collection Worksheet 

PDF file

Word file

In Falcon Heights, recycling is provided to residents by a city-wide contract. All residential recycling and trash pick-up takes place on Fridays.

For new residents of Falcon Heights wishing to establish recycling (and water services), that can be done through Saint Paul Regional Water Services.

Falcon Heights has contracted with Tennis Sanitation since 2011 to provide residential recycling for both single family homes and apartment buildings. Here are five important things to remember:

• Collection is EVERY Friday. Place containers out before 7:00 a.m. For some holiday weeks, collection is delayed until Saturday.
• Collection is "single sort" - all materials in one container.
• Wheeled carts have been provided. They are brown with orange tops. If you don't have one, call Tennis Sanitation at 651-459-1887. Please ensure billing is set up first through Saint Paul Regional Water Services.
• If you have a missed pick-up or other customer service concern, please contact Tennis Sanitation at 651-459-1887.
• Commonwealth Terrace and other apartment residents may have a different pick-up schedule. Please check with your building manager to find out the pick-up day(s).

Tennis Sanitation Brochure

2023 Year End Recycling Report

2022 Year End Recycling Report

2021 Year End Recycling Report

Experienced gardeners know that home-made compost is one of the best - and least expensive! - ingredients for enriching the soil. Some cities do not allow back yard composting, but Falcon Heights does!

Here are some things you should know if you want to make compost at home.

What you can put in your home compost: grass, leaves, soft garden waste, and food waste of plant origin, such as fruit and vegetable peels and trimmings. 

Do not add food waste of animal origin, such as meat scraps, cheese, bones, etc.

A compost bin is recommended. These make home composting a breeze! They speed up the breakdown of the material, they take up very little space, and they keep animals out. You can find compost bins for sale at some garden stores and from several online sources. From time to time local communities will host compost bin sales where bins are available at a greatly reduced price. Falcon Heights is too small to sponsor one of these sales, but if we hear of one in Ramsey County it will be on our news page!

Build your own compost enclosure. Please be aware that your compost enclosure cannot be larger than 5 feet by 5 feet and that it must be screened from the view of anyone on adjoining private or public property.

For more information on backyard composting, please visit Ramsey County's website - Backyard Composting | Ramsey County.

You can now bring your food waste, non-recyclable paper, and compostable plastics to the Ramsey County collection sites. There is no charge to drop off, but you must show proof of residency in Ramsey County. Falcon Heights has a food scraps collection site at City Hall at 2077 Larpenteur Ave West.

 How to Use:

1. Find a container to collect food scraps. Free compostable bags are available at any Ramsey County Yard Waste collection site, or any 24/7 food scraps drop-off site.
2. Line a container that won't leak with a compostable bag and fill with food scraps and other accepted items. Ramsey County offers free compostable bags at all collection sites. If using a compostable bag not provided by the county, check that it has the “compostable” logo from the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) on the bag or the box. Compostable bags can be found at local retailers or online. Do not use regular plastic bags. They will not compost.
3. Bring your bagged food scraps (organics recycling) to the collection site at Falcon Heights City Hall. Once the compostable bag(s) is full of food scraps (organics recycling), place it in the organics recycling dumpster at Falcon Heights City Hall. Social distancing is recommended.
4. Pick up a new compostable bag and continue collecting food scraps. Minimize odor and pests by dropping off your food scraps at a collection site at least once per week. You can also keep your compostable bag with food scraps in the freezer until you are ready to drop it off.

*Remember to keep food waste separate from yard waste.*

For more information on this food scraps recycling program and a complete list of items accepted, go to the Ramsey County food scraps page.

Every homeowner and gardener knows how quickly yard waste can pile up during the growing season. Grass clippings, leaves in the fall, branches, and brush - these can not be put into the trash. When they are allowed to wash into the street and on into our storm sewers they cause serious pollution of our rivers and lakes. Piles of woody waste - brush, branches, sticks - can become a refuge for animal pests and a catch for windblown litter.

What can you do to keep your yard tidy, eliminate those piles and be good to the environment?

Most yard waste is accepted at the Ramsey County yard waste sites. There is no charge to drop off, but you must show proof of residency in Ramsey County. The closest site to Falcon Heights is on Pierce Butler Route near Prior Avenue. These sites are for residential use only. 

*Remember to keep food waste separate from yard waste.*

What to do with leaves:

Please do not rake your leaves into the street! We have the streets swept twice a year in Falcon Heights. This is not a leaf pick-up service.

Please be a good neighbor. When you put your leaves into the street, you increase pollution of stormwater, add to slippery street hazards in rain or snow, and make a big mess in front of your own house and the other homes on your block. Please find another solution for the leaves from your yard.

• Run the mower over them to mulch them in place. This is recommended if you can still see the grass through the leaves. If you can't see the grass, then you need to rake.

• Collect them and put them in your compost pile.

• Bag them and arrange for your garbage hauler to pick them up, if you have contracted for yard waste service.

What to do with brush and branches:

As the weather warms up and people get to work in their yards, we see a lot of brush-and-branch piles around town. The City Code does not allow you to keep brush piles on your property! They pose a fire danger, they encourage weeds and vermin, and they make your property and neighborhood look bad. 

From appliances to zinc batteries, if you're not sure where to take it, check out Ramsey County's Ramsey Recycles page or the A to Z Recycling & Disposal Guide.

You can also call 651-633-EASY (3279) for questions on how to dispose of anything. This hotline is answered 24/7.

Electronics recycling

Household hazardous waste

Unwanted medicine

From the Ramsey/Washington Recycling Board

BizRecycling page

Business recycling directory

Fix It Clinics

Event Containers

Radon Testing

Reuse & Donation