The City of Lethbridge is opening its yard waste sites on April 1, 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge yard waste sites open April 1

Mar 31, 2025 | 1:28 PM

As people get started on their yard work, the City of Lethbridge will let them drop off their waste for free.

The self-service yard waste sites open for the season on Tuesday, April 1, and will close in mid-November.

They will be open every day during that period from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the following locations:

• North – 2200 Stafford Drive North
• South – 2665 28 Avenue South
• West – 296 Bridge Drive West

The sites can take a variety of materials, such as branches that are less than six feet in length and eight inches in diameter, leaves, clean pumpkins, grass, garden trimmings, and fallen fruit that has been removed from branches.

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James Nicholls, waste and environment collections manager, says food items need to be brought separately from grass and leaves.

Some things, however, are not accepted.

“One of the biggest things that we see at the yard waste sites that we’re asking people not to bring are the oversized loads, so if you just cut down an entire tree in your back yard, please don’t bring the whole thing at once,” says Nicholls. “Make sure that you’re not bringing those large stumps from the bottom – those need to go to the Waste and Recycling Centre… we’re simply not equipped to handle those.”

Other tips to keep in mind when using yard waste sites include:

• Residential yard waste only.
• You must be able to unload your own materials.
• Use paper bags to avoid having to unbag materials from plastic bags.
• Only one person is allowed at a time when using the compactor or branch chipper.
• During peak times, customers with trailers full of materials may be directed to the Waste & Recycling Centre to drop off their load.

Since the City of Lethbridge introduced curbside organics collection in 2023, Nicholls says usage of the yard waste sites has dropped, as expected.

He says he is glad to see that so many residents have taken to using their green carts in order to divert organic waste from the landfill.

You can learn more about the yard waste sites on the City of Lethbridge website.

READ MORE: Elm tree pruning ban goes into effect April 1 in Lethbridge

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