Russellville’s own sanitation crews collect the garbage, and the city code asks you to drain and wrap food waste so its moisture stays off the walls and bottom of the can. In an Alabama summer that moisture gets in anyway. TidyCan washes it out on your pickup day. Service starts at $30 every 4 weeks for up to two bins.
Inside city limits, the city is your only garbage service
Russellville rewrote its solid waste chapter in March 2023. Section 54-31 says collection “shall be made by the officers, agents and employees of the city,” and that “garbage is to be picked up not less than one time each week.” Section 54-51 makes the arrangement exclusive: “The city’s collection service shall be exclusive within the city.” Every resident and business inside the corporate limits must subscribe (§ 54-46), and the charge appears on your water and electric bill.
The code also settles which can you use. Section 54-52 requires the cans “distributed by the sanitation department,” and garbage stored in anything else “will not be serviced by the city.”
The code already knows moisture is the problem
“All garbage, before deposit in the container as provided in this article, shall be drained free of water and wrapped in paper or other material in such manner as to prevent, as nearly as possible, moisture from such garbage from coming in contact with the sides or bottom of the container.”
Russellville Code of Ordinances § 54-35(a)
The same chapter requires garbage to go in plastic bags in every container. Both rules aim at the same thing: keeping wet food waste off the inside of the can. They help. But bags split, drips run down to the bottom, and a week of 90 degree afternoons turns whatever reaches the plastic into the smell you notice from the driveway.
| Russellville garbage rule | What the code says |
|---|---|
| Who collects | City sanitation employees (§ 54-31) |
| Other haulers | Not allowed inside city limits without council approval (§ 54-51) |
| Subscription | Mandatory for residents and businesses (§ 54-46) |
| Which can | The ones distributed by the sanitation department (§ 54-52) |
| Bags | Plastic bags required in all containers (§ 54-1) |
| Wet garbage | Drained and wrapped to keep moisture off the can (§ 54-35(a)) |
| Frequency | At least once a week (§ 54-31) |
Russellville Street Department, for reference: the code places garbage pickup under the Street Department. 109 Madison Street, 256-332-8750, Monday to Friday 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Limbs, brush and leaves go within five feet of the curb line on your regular collection day, with limbs no longer than six feet or heavier than 75 pounds.
Outside city limits, Franklin County offers service
Russellville’s two ZIP codes, 35653 and 35654, reach far past the city. About 95 percent of the land in each lies outside city limits. Out there, Franklin County Solid Waste offers weekly garbage service at $15.00 a month, according to the county’s application form. The truck is different, but the can is the same kind of problem, and we clean it the same way.
Why a Russellville summer is the whole problem
NOAA’s reporting station for the Shoals is Muscle Shoals Regional Airport, about 18 miles north of Russellville. Its 1991 to 2020 normals put the average July high at 91.6°F and the average July low at 71.4°F. The nights barely cool the cart off. A closed plastic container with food waste in the bottom sits in that for weeks at a time, and that is what turns a cart into something you hold your breath to open.
From downtown to Woodridge and Hester Heights
Russellville had 10,736 residents in 2024, according to the Census Bureau, on about 13 square miles. Downtown’s Russellville Commercial Historic District joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. The city names Woodridge, Briarleigh, Hester Heights and Woodland Hills among its residential areas, and every one of them is on the same city service and the same rules.
What we do about it in Russellville
We run Russellville and Franklin County routes on your pickup day.
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Self-contained truckOur truck carries its own water and power, so nothing is connected to your house.
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200°F washWashed inside and out with high pressure water heated to 200°F.
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Sanitized and deodorizedThen set back where it belongs, ready for the week.
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Nothing down your drivewayNo harsh chemicals, and the wastewater leaves with us rather than running down your driveway.
Ready to stop dreading trash day? Monthly service in Russellville is $30 and covers up to two bins. Request a quote or call 256-320-8042.
