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The city is updating its leaf collection process.
Raleigh is turning over a new leaf—literally. This year, the city is phasing out its loose-leaf collection program in favor of weekly yard waste pickup to guarantee clean streets—read: no more leaf piles hogging the curbs—and offer reliable collection for DTR residents.
Plus, when the city phases out loose-leaf collection in the fall, yard waste pickup services will switch from biweekly to weekly, giving residents 26 additional collection days every year.
For longtime Downtowners, the change may come as a shock. Raleigh’s loose-leaf collection service has been around for decades—but not without ongoing debate. Assistant City Manager Evan Raleigh says multiple city councils have weighed its merits over the years.
The previous practice was for residents to pile their leaves at the curb, close enough for vacuum trucks to grab. But when leaves drift into bike lanes or wash into storm drains, they quickly become a safety hazard—to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike.
“I’ve borne witness to some of the issues when you have literally a mountain of leaves that are obstructing the travel lanes and creating difficulty for sight lines, and in different places, you can’t see who’s walking,” emphasizes Raleigh.
Add wind, rain and snow into the mix, and that’s even more of a delay in the City’s ability to collect the yard waste.
In June 2025, City Council approved the new service model—weekly yard waste pickup—to address these concerns. And over the next few months, the City is giving residents a choice: opt for the new collection method to prepare for the pivot next fall, or take advantage of the old process for the final season.
Not only does containerizing the leaves limit hazards, Raleigh says it also makes pickup much more predictable. “Just like with recycling and trash collection, it’s like clockwork,” he explains. “It comes on the day and time, and yard waste is no different.”
It’s a new era for Raleigh’s leaves, suggests the Assistant City Manager—one that keeps residents safe, neighborhoods clean and operations running smoothly.
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Here’s the problem with this change. The leaves don’t fall a little bit at a time, all year. We have a tiny yard and several huge trees. When they drop their leaves, it takes about 25 leaf bags to hold all of them. That’s not going to fit in one green bin.
When I reached out to the city, they recommended we store the leaves on our property and let them decompose, but we do not have anywhere to do that.
The other option would be to take them to the dump for yard waste. But this is the craziest part of the whole situation. If we take the leaves in regular garbage bags and dump them in the regular garbage, there’s no charge. If we purchase the special leaf bags, those cost about 50 cents each, and they charge us to dump them at the yard waste facility. Doesn’t that seem backwards? I have a feeling lots of leaves are going to end up in the landfill.