If you rake leaves in Gwinnett County, the legal ways to get rid of them depend on one thing most people never check: whether your home is inside a city's sanitation area or in unincorporated Gwinnett. A Lawrenceville mailing address does not answer that, because the City of Lawrenceville says not all Lawrenceville addresses are inside city limits. This guide lays out the pickup, bagging, burning and storm drain rules from the county, the cities, Georgia EPD and the Georgia Forestry Commission, with the source for each one listed at the end.
If you would rather not deal with the leaves yourself, we do leaf removal and yard cleanup in Lawrenceville and nearby towns.
Gwinnett leaf pickup at a glance: county vs city programs
In unincorporated Gwinnett, leaf pickup is an extra-fee service from your assigned hauler, while some cities, including Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville and Sugar Hill, run their own yard waste collection with their own rules. Here is how the programs we could confirm compare.
| Where you live | How leaves are collected | Bags | Limits and cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated Gwinnett | Optional curbside yard waste service you contract with your assigned hauler | Kraft paper bags or a container marked "yard waste" | 50 lb max per bag or container; extra fee set by your hauler, not part of the $24.14 a month base rate |
| City of Lawrenceville (sanitation service area) | Free vacuum truck for unbagged leaves at the street, November 1 to April 30; bagged on trash day May 1 to October 31 | Bags of your choosing in the bagged season | 50 lb max per bag; extra charge for 10 or more bags of leaves and/or garbage a week |
| Buford | Leaf vacuum November 1 to March 31 on the trash schedule; bagged at the street the rest of the year | Not stated on the city page | No lawn maintenance or other contract service material at the curb |
| Snellville | Call Public Works to schedule curbside pickup; city residents can also use the Recycling Center | Any appropriate yard waste bag; larger limbs need a yard waste bag attached | 6 bags per pickup per household |
| Sugar Hill | Weekly pickup inside city limits, no scheduling | Paper lawn bags and trash bags accepted | 50 lb max per bag; out by 7 a.m. Monday |
| Suwanee | Residents contract with private sanitation companies | Ask your company | Set by your company |
Details for each one, plus the county and state burning rules and the storm drain rules, are below.
Does Gwinnett County pick up leaves?
Not as part of the standard county trash service. In unincorporated Gwinnett, yard waste pickup is an optional service you pay your hauler extra for, and leaves never go in the trash or recycling cart.
The county solid waste program is mandatory for all residents in unincorporated Gwinnett County, but it covers trash, recycling, and bulky items and white goods you schedule with the hauler. The county's own pages say "Yard waste is available for an additional fee" and "You must contract separately with your hauler for yard waste pickup." The county FAQ calls curbside yard waste collection "an elective service" and sends you to your hauler for the service and its fees.
The county's recycling trifold is just as plain: "No yard waste should be placed in waste or recycling cart." It lists yard waste pickup under additional optional hauler services. So if you are in unincorporated Gwinnett and you have not signed up for yard waste service, putting leaf bags in the trash cart is not the answer.
Several cities in Gwinnett run their own programs instead. Lawrenceville's free vacuum truck is the biggest difference, and it is covered in its own section below.
First, find out who picks up your trash
Check whether your home is inside a city's sanitation area or in unincorporated Gwinnett before you do anything with your leaves, because the rules are different and a Lawrenceville mailing address does not settle it.
The City of Lawrenceville says it directly: "Not all Lawrenceville addresses are actually inside the city limits." The city has a map lookup on its City Limits page where you can check your parcel. If your home is in unincorporated Gwinnett, you are on the county program with an assigned hauler.
In unincorporated Gwinnett, five haulers collect trash and recycling in assigned service areas. Each one gives you a 95-gallon trash cart and a 65-gallon recycling cart. You do not get to pick your hauler. The county FAQ says "Haulers are assigned by service areas."
| Hauler | Phone | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Red Oak Sanitation | 770.536.7868 | North Gwinnett |
| Republic Services | 678.963.2800 | East Gwinnett |
| Southern Sanitation | 770.554.6450 | South Gwinnett |
| Waste Management | 678.684.1493 | Northwest Gwinnett |
| Waste Pro | 770.451.9395 | Southwest Gwinnett |
The county lists the haulers by region only, so don't guess yours from the map. Use the county's hauler lookup, or call Gwinnett Solid Waste Management at 770.822.7141, weekdays 8:00am to 5:00pm. You can also email GCSolidWaste@GwinnettCounty.com.
Gwinnett County yard waste rules: bags, weight and limbs
In unincorporated Gwinnett, leaves go in Kraft paper bags or a personal container clearly marked "yard waste", 50 pounds max, and limbs must be bundled with rope or twine, no more than 4 inches across, 3 feet long and under 50 pounds.
Here is the checklist from the county's residential services page:
- Bags: place yard trimmings only in Kraft paper bags, or in your own container clearly marked "yard waste".
- Weight: bags and containers must not weigh more than 50 pounds.
- Limbs: no more than 4 inches in diameter and 3 feet long, bundled with rope or twine, under 50 pounds per bundle.
- Timing: items are collected between 7:00am and 6:30pm on your service day. Set them out before 7:00am and take containers back in by the day after collection.
- Not allowed at the curb: "large tree debris" and stumps are on the county's list of unacceptable curbside waste.
The county page says paper bags only. It does not use the words "no plastic", but one hauler does. Waste Pro's Gwinnett page says "Yard trimmings must be in biodegradable paper bags, not plastic." That page is older (posted in 2016), and other haulers may word it differently, but the safe move is to use paper.
The county does not publish a bag count per week or a separate yard waste pickup day, so ask your hauler about both when you sign up.
What does yard waste pickup cost in Gwinnett?
Gwinnett's 2026 base trash and recycling rate is $24.14 a month, yard waste is not included, and each hauler charges its own extra fee for it.
The county lists the base rate at $24.14 a month, or $289.68 for the year, in 2026, rising to $25.01 a month, or $300.12 a year, in 2027. That covers one 95-gallon trash cart, recycling, and bulky items and white goods you schedule with your hauler.
Yard waste is the extra. The county says it "is available for an additional fee" and that you contract for it separately with your hauler. We could not find a current yard waste price from any of the five haulers, so we won't quote one here. Call your hauler and ask for the yard waste rate and how it is billed.
For what it is worth, Waste Pro's Gwinnett page from 2016 says its yard waste was "billed twice a year, in January and July." That is an older hauler page, and the other four haulers may bill differently.
Lawrenceville city leaf pickup: the vacuum truck season
Inside Lawrenceville's sanitation service area, the city collects leaves for free: from November 1 to April 30 you can leave them unbagged at the street for the vacuum truck, and the rest of the year you bag them.
Lawrenceville Utilities runs the seasonal leaf collection for residential customers in the current Lawrenceville Sanitation service area. It is not available outside that area, which is why the city limits check in the section above matters.
November 1 to April 30: vacuum season
- Leaves may be left unbagged at the street for the vacuum truck.
- You do not have to schedule it.
- Collection is as needed and depends on the weather.
- Routes take about two weeks to cover the city limits, so your pile may sit a while.
May 1 to October 31: bagged season
- Bag leaves in bags of your choosing and set them at the street on trash day, several feet away from your trash cart.
- Bags hold only leaves and small yard debris, 50 pounds max.
- There is an extra charge for 10 or more bags of leaves and/or household garbage in a week.
Limbs, all year
Lawrenceville picks up limbs free all year on trash day. Cut them to 3 feet or less, and leave out trunks and stumps. The service is not meant for limbs left at the road by independent tree removal services. For extra limbs, the city charges your utility account $200 for a full truckload or $100 for a half truckload.
Free city mulch is paused
The city normally gives away free mulch at 460 Paper Mill Road on Fridays from 8 am to 3 pm. Its update of 8/4/2026 says mulch is currently unavailable and is expected back January 8, 2027.
Leaf pickup in other Gwinnett cities
Several Gwinnett cities run their own yard waste service, and the rules differ town by town, so check your own city's page before you set anything out.
Buford
Buford uses a leaf vacuum from November 1 to March 31, on the same schedule as curbside trash. The rest of the year, leaves are bagged and left at the street. Buford does not pick up commercial material at the curb, and that includes lawn maintenance waste. The city says contract service material must be disposed of by the contractor or the owner.
Snellville
In Snellville you call Public Works at 770-985-3527, Monday to Thursday, 7:00am to 5:30pm, to schedule a curbside yard waste pickup. The limit is six bags per pickup per household, and leaves and other yard waste go inside any appropriate yard waste bag. Larger limbs must be bound in 4-foot lengths, no more than 6 inches across, with a yard waste bag attached.
Snellville residents also have the city Recycling Center at 2531 Marigold Road, which takes yard trimmings from city-limit residents only. You get one pickup truck load of yard debris a day free and one extra load a day for $15. It takes "Leaves and grass emptied from plastic bags" and limbs up to 5 inches across.
Sugar Hill
Sugar Hill collects yard and leaf debris every week for residents inside city limits, with no scheduling. Bags go out by 7 a.m. Monday, and "Paper lawn bags and trash bags are accepted", 50 pounds max per bag. Limbs can be no more than 4 inches across, in one pile no bigger than 6 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet. Limbs cut by tree service or landscape companies are not picked up.
Suwanee
Suwanee residents contract with private companies for sanitation. The city lists Republic, Red Oak and Waste Management among them, so your yard waste rules come from whichever company you use.
Towns we did not cover
We could not confirm current leaf rules for Duluth, Dacula, Lilburn, Grayson, Loganville, Norcross or Auburn, so we are not listing any. If you live in one of those cities, check the city's own sanitation page or call city hall. You can see the towns we cover in Gwinnett for leaf removal and yard cleanup.
Can you burn leaves in Gwinnett County?
Yes, outside the summer ban: you may burn leaves and limbs that fell on your own property, with no state permit, on a declared burn day, but burning yard debris is banned in Gwinnett from May 1 to September 30.
Georgia EPD's Summer Open Burning Ban runs May 1 to September 30 in 54 counties, and Gwinnett is on the list. It bans burning yard and land-clearing debris, and EPD says breaking it "may result in fines." Burning household garbage is banned all year statewide.
An older Gwinnett County release from October 1, 2020 says residents may burn limited amounts of yard debris from October 1 to April 30 under county ordinance. That lines up with the EPD ban dates.
On permits, the rules changed in 2021. Since July 1, 2021, the Georgia Forestry Commission does not require a permit to burn hand-piled natural vegetation or yard debris, "meaning leaf and limbs only." The GFC adds that local burning ordinances still apply, and so does the summer ban. Land clearing, agricultural burns and vegetative storm debris still need GFC notification or a permit, at 1-800-GA-TREES.
Gwinnett's own rule limits yard debris burning to leaves and limbs that fall on your own property. Leaves raked up somewhere else don't qualify.
Gwinnett burn rules, step by step
Check the county's burn-day status first, then follow the distance, time and attendance rules from Gwinnett Fire and the Georgia Forestry Commission.
- Check that it is a burn day. The Gwinnett Fire Marshal declares "NO BURN" days based on conditions. The status is updated daily by 9:00 am on the county's outdoor burning page and on the burn line, 678.518.4979.
- Not on Sunday, not at night. Gwinnett prohibits burning yard debris on Sundays and at night.
- Burn between sunrise and sunset only.
- Keep your distance. At least 50 feet from your house or any structure, at least 25 feet from woods, and no burning within 20 feet of flammable materials.
- Have water ready. Gwinnett requires a garden hose or similar. The GFC also lists a barrier, hand tools and watching the weather as reasonable precautions.
- Stay with it. The fire must be "constantly attended by a competent person until extinguished."
- Leaves and limbs only. No garbage and nothing that makes heavy dark smoke, and don't burn when the smoke is a health hazard to your neighbors.
- Skip windy and red flag days. The 2020 county release says no burning when winds are, or are forecast to be, over 15 mph, under a Red Flag Warning or Fire Weather Watch, or during an air pollution episode.
If someone near you has a medical condition, they can ask the Fire Marshal for a Medical Burn Ban. A doctor fills out the application every year, and the ban covers about a quarter-mile radius around the nearest intersection, running through September 30.
These are the county's rules. If you live inside a city, check whether your city has its own burning rules before you light a pile.
Don't blow leaves into the street or storm drain
In Gwinnett, anything other than rainwater going into a storm drain is an illicit discharge under county code, and leaves clog the drains.
Gwinnett Water Resources says the County Code's Illicit Discharge and Illegal Connection (IDIC) Ordinance prohibits it, and you can report one at 678.376.7000. The county also warns that grass clippings, leaves and branches can block storm drains and pipes, and says yard waste should stay on your property or go in approved disposal bags.
The county's stormwater guide for lawn care companies is direct: don't blow, sweep or dump clippings or leaves into the street, storm drains or drainage ditches. Compost leaves or bag them for curbside pickup instead.
If you are in Lawrenceville's vacuum area, the city does let you leave unbagged leaves at the street for the truck. Follow your city's set-out instructions for that, and keep the pile out of the storm drain and any ditch.
The easiest legal option: mulch them
Shred your leaves with a mower and use them as mulch, which both Gwinnett's stormwater guidance and UGA Extension support.
The county's stormwater guide says mulching leaves into the turf with a mulching mower "can also be beneficial." If you already have regular mowing on the calendar, that can take care of a light layer of leaves.
UGA Extension recommends shredding leaves with a lawn mower, bagging attachment or leaf shredder so they stay in place, then spreading a 3 to 5 inch layer around trees, shrubs and flowers. You can also use shredded leaves as the bottom layer and put bark or pine straw on top. That is a good way to stretch mulch beds or to finish with fresh pine straw over the cleaned beds.
One caution from an older UGA article (2009): pecan and walnut leaves are not recommended for mulch, because they produce juglone, a toxic chemical.
For what hiring the job out costs around Lawrenceville, see leaf removal cost in Lawrenceville. For when to rake and how to mulch leaves into the lawn, see when to rake leaves in Georgia.
If you hire someone for leaf cleanup
Some city programs do not take debris left by a contractor, so ask how the leaves will be handled before the job starts.
Buford does not pick up lawn maintenance material at the curb and says the contractor or the owner must dispose of it. Sugar Hill will not pick up limbs cut by tree service or landscape companies. Lawrenceville's free limb pickup is not meant for limbs left at the road by independent tree removal services. Rules like these are why it pays to settle the plan for the leaves up front.
Cocho Landscape is based in Lawrenceville and does leaf removal and yard cleanup in Lawrenceville and nearby Gwinnett towns. Estimates are free. Call (470) 274-1280, or send a photo of your yard for a free estimate.
