Please do not place leaves in the street more than 3 days prior to the scheduled leaf pickup in your area.

(unimproved streets are normally picked up during the second round of collection)

* Schedule is subject to change based on weather conditions and other constraints. Please check the weekly online schedule or call the leaf program hotline at 541-682-5383 for current scheduling information.

Leaves Are a Valuable Natural Resource

Recycling is a key concept in Eugene’s leaf program. Residents are encouraged to reuse and recycle their leaves. Leaves collected by Public Works crews are recycled by delivering them to residents, community gardens, community groups such as Food for Lane County, and commercial recyclers, who use them as mulch or compost. Leaves that aren’t delivered are recycled by the department as compost material.

Here are four things you can do with leaves:

• Use leaves as mulch or compost material.
• Share leaves with neighbors and friends.
• Deposit leaves in the yard debris container provided by your garbage company.
• Take leaves to local yard debris recyclers (Rexius and Lane Forest Products).

Here’s more information on reusing and recycling your leaves:

Recycle Leaves at Home!

Leaves can be used as mulch or compost material. They offer an economical alternative to costly commercial mulches, fertilizers, soil amendments, and herbicides. In fact, leaves are such a valuable natural resource that many residents request that Public Works deliver leaves!

Spread leaves several inches thick over your garden site to keep out weeds during the winter, then till them into the garden in the spring before planting. Keep an extra pile to one side to use as mulch during the summer growing season. You may want to turn this pile once or twice during the winter. The summer mulch also helps to conserve irrigation water, which can further reduce your costs.

Use leaves as an alternative to bark or other commercially available mulches in your landscape beds. Typically, leaves will break down faster than coarser materials, but the result is a more fertile soil for your landscape plants. You can stockpile additional leaves to renew your mulch throughout the year, and a new supply of leaves arrives each fall. If your leaves are too large or coarse, you might try collecting them with a bagging lawn mower. You may need to adjust the height setting upward to accomplish this. The mower blade will partially shred the leaves, and bagging them aids in handling.

You can even top-dress your lawn with shredded or composted leaves. It is best to do this following core aeration. Special equipment, available from local rental yards, may be required for best results.

For more information about the City's compost education program, call 541-682-5542. Detailed information on using leaves around the yard and garden is also available by calling the OSU Extension Service at 541-687-4243. Or download a factsheet with more information on composing with leaves.

Commercial Recycling Is Another Option

If you have more leaves than you or your neighbors can use, you can drop them off at a commercial recycling site. Commercial resource recyclers accept leaves and other green materials, such as tree limbs and shrub prunings, for a nominal fee. Resource recyclers turn these materials into compost. An advantage to using a commercial recycler is that you do not have to separate leaves from other green material.

Commercial recyclers do not accept leaves or green material contaminated with garbage, metal, rocks, or stumps. Plastic garbage bags are not accepted. Currently, there are two recyclers who accept leaves in the Eugene area. A pickup can hold two or three cubic yards of dry, compacted leaves.

Rexius Forest By-Products accepts leaves at its facility at 1250 Bailey Hill Road, located between West 11th and West 18th avenues. Winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information about Rexius Forest By-Products, call 342-1835.

Lane Forest Products accepts yard debris, including leaves, at 2111 Prairie Road, located just south of Beltline, and 820 N. 42nd Street in Springfield. The sites are open seven days a week. Winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about Lane Forest Products, call 345-9085.

Important Things to Remember If You're Placing Leaves in the Street for Pickup

• Don’t put leaves in bike lanes. Eugene Code prohibits the obstruction of bike or travel lanes with leaves or other debris. And, property owners are liable for any injuries or damage that result from placing materials in the street.
• Place leaves so they do not obstruct the flow of traffic. Piles that even partially block a bike lane or traffic lane can cause motorists or cyclists to swerve into oncoming traffic.
• If you can place leaves in the street without putting leaves in a bike lane or obstructing traffic, wait until the weekend before the scheduled pickup date in your area. Leaves placed in the street too early tend to blow around or get washed into storm drains.
• Keep curbs, gutters and catch basins clear to prevent flooding. If a catch basin does plug, scrape the leaves away from the grate. Be extra careful working in travel lanes or standing water.
• Leave at least 15 feet between leaf piles and parked cars.
• Remove leaves from sidewalks. Wet, slippery leaves are a hazard to pedestrians.
• Pile leaves well away from catch basins.
• Keep leaf piles clean. Don’t mix leaves with branches, rocks, or lawn clippings because that makes it difficult to reuse the leaves for mulch or compost.

Operational Enhancements

For the past several years the Public Works Department has deployed additional equipment and staff to clear obstructions in bike lanes. In 2009, the Public Works Department is implementing the following operational enhancements:

• Assign a night shift priority to sweeping and maintaining bike lanes on arterials and collectors.
• Add a senior maintenance worker to the day shift with a major focus on bike lane maintenance
• Prioritize bike lane leaf pickup based on list of problem areas reported by bicycle riders/groups.
• Develop a Leaf Season Priority Bike Lane Route Map to identify main corridors on which to concentrate leaf pickup efforts
• Purchase an additional leaf vacuum at a cost of approximately $25,000 and assign an additional dump truck and a two-person seasonal crew to the leaf pickup program. The additional vacuum equipment would concentrate on leaf pickup on priority bike lane routes.
• Do not promote piling leaves in bike lanes. Instead, use messaging that placing leaves in bike lanes is unsafe.
• Make it easier for residents, including cyclists, to report leaves in bike lanes by improving the leaf program web site to include an online “leaf reporter” so leaf hazards can be reported at any time. The upgraded web site also includes a map showing where and when collections crews have been on designated bike routes. This service will help cyclists plan their routes on any given day.