ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown switched trash haulers at the start of June, a change that brought a major shakeup to yard-waste collection.
The city moved to year-round pickups this month after Allentown officials hired J.P. Mascaro & Sons.
Waste Management collected yard waste weekly from spring through fall for many years, but crews from the new hauler are set to pick up residents’ yard waste half as often, but year-round.
“We just want to make sure everyone knows when to put out their yard waste, how they’re allowed to put out their yard waste, because the last thing we would want anyone to get is a SWEEP ticket.”
Jessica Trobetsky, Allentown's Bureau of Recycling & Solid Waste
During the first month of the new schedule, workers from Allentown’s Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program placed more than 1,300 “OOPS!” tags on yard-waste bags placed out for collection at the wrong time, according to Jessica Trobetsky, who works in the city Bureau of Recycling & Solid Waste.
Fines coming
That “extra education” for residents will end soon, Trobetsky said. The city will start issuing fines July 1 for misplaced yard waste.
“SWEEP officers will start enforcing the curbside rules again,” she said. “We just want to make sure everyone knows when to put out their yard waste, how they’re allowed to put out their yard waste, because the last thing we would want anyone to get is a SWEEP ticket.”
Residents face tickets of $25 or $100 for violating Allentown’s yard-waste-collection rules; enforcers can write a new ticket every day for the same violation, according to city code.
Residents also can be cited if they don’t pay a yard-waste fine within 20 days.
The city’s yard-waste drop-off site — 1401 Oxford Drive — is open to residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays through Nov. 22.
Allentown City Council last year approved a five-year, $90 million contract for J.P. Mascaro & Sons. That can be extended up to four more years for $90 million more.
Residents’ costs climbed significantly with the new contract. The annual trash fee rose from $415 last year to $605 in 2025; it could jump $135 more next year, according to city projections.
That would see residents’ trash fees climb more than 75% in just two years.