Shawnee County Solid Waste will take up to 15 bags of yard waste a week from your curb, plus branches cut and tied into bundles no longer than 4 feet and 18 inches across, at no charge beyond your regular cart bill. Anything bigger than that goes on a truck or trailer to the city’s yard waste facility at 2200 NW Waterworks Way, where a full-size pickup load runs $15 for a City of Topeka resident and $20 for everyone else. Burning the pile is the third option, and it’s the one with the most rules attached: Topeka requires a free annual residential burn permit, an on-site visit before it’s issued, and a phone call for approval every single time you light it.
That’s the whole menu. Which one you use comes down to how much wood you’re dealing with and whether you own a trailer. Below is what each option actually accepts, what it costs, and the local rules that catch people out.
What are your options for tree debris disposal in Topeka?
There are four, and most tree jobs end up using more than one.
Curbside with your regular trash. Best for routine trimming, a few limbs, and bagged leaves. Free with your existing Shawnee County Solid Waste service, but capped by bag count and bundle size.
Self-haul to the yard waste facility. Best for a whole tree’s worth of brush, or anything too big to bundle. Costs $10 to $60 depending on what you’re driving.
Burning on your own property. Legal inside the city with a permit, but the permit rules exclude some of the exact material a tree job produces.
Letting the crew take it. Most removal quotes already include chipping and hauling. That’s usually the cheapest option once you price your own time and dump fees.
What will Shawnee County pick up at the curb?
Shawnee County Solid Waste allows 15 bags of yard waste on non-holiday weeks, and bagged waste shouldn’t exceed 45 pounds. Branches, shrubs, boards, and carpet have to be cut and tied in bundles no longer than 4 feet, and 18 inches in diameter. You also get one bulky item on non-holiday weeks, included with your regular service.
The holiday rule is the one that surprises people. Large items and yard waste are not picked up at all during weeks when a county-observed holiday falls. Your black-lid refuse cart still gets emptied on its normal day, but the brush pile you set out stays put until the following week. The county publishes a holiday schedule each year showing exactly which weeks are affected, so it’s worth checking the current one before you plan a big cleanup around a long weekend.
A few other limits worth knowing before you stack anything at the curb. Carts and material need to be at the collection point by 7:00 AM on your service day. Personal containers can’t be more than 32 gallons, need handles, and can’t weigh more than 65 pounds. Dirt, rock, and concrete can’t go out with household refuse, which matters if you’re clearing a stump hole at the same time. Material that isn’t considered household refuse can still be picked up, but for a fee.
Residential service in 2026 runs on the rate schedule posted in February 2023: $22.00 a month for a 95-gallon refuse cart inside the city, $23.00 in the county, $5.00 for each additional cart, and $3.50 for curbside recycling. Questions about a specific pile are worth a call to the department at (785) 233-4774 before your service day rather than after.
What does it cost to haul brush to the Topeka yard waste facility?
The city’s Biomass and Yard Materials Recycling Facility sits at 2200 NW Waterworks Way and charges by what you show up in, not by weight. City residents pay less than everyone else, but only in the two smallest vehicle categories. Here’s the posted tip fee schedule:
| What you’re hauling in | City resident | Non-city / business |
|---|---|---|
| Compact truck or trailer under 4’ x 8’ | $10.00 | $15.00 |
| Full-size truck or 4’ x 8’ single-axle trailer | $15.00 | $20.00 |
| Double-axle trailer or 1-ton truck | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| 2-ton truck | $25.00 | $25.00 |
| Grain or single-axle dump truck | $35.00 | $35.00 |
| Tandem-axle dump truck or single-axle grapple | $45.00 | $45.00 |
| Semi trailer or tandem-axle grapple | $60.00 | $60.00 |
Notice where the resident discount stops. At double-axle and above, a Topeka homeowner and an out-of-county contractor pay exactly the same. If you’re borrowing a trailer to save a trip, a single-axle 4’ x 8’ at $15 beats a double-axle at $20, so two smaller loads can cost less than one big one.
The same facility sells finished product back. Natural mulch is $8.00 a cubic yard for city residents and $18.00 for everyone else, compost is $18.00 and $22.00, and screened soil is $17.00 and $22.00. Hauling your brush in and taking mulch home in the same trip is a reasonable way to close the loop on a removal.
Posted hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 4:30, with a shorter Saturday. Hours and fees are set by the operator and do change, so call (785) 368-3762 before you load up. The site closed for about three weeks in April 2024 after a mulch fire and has been operating since, but a quick call still beats a wasted trip across town.
Can you burn brush in Topeka?
Yes, with an annual residential burn permit from the Topeka Fire Department, and the conditions are stricter than most people expect.
The permit itself is free and covers the calendar year it’s issued in. It’s handled through the Inspection Unit, and every residential permit is issued only after an on-site visit with the resident present. So it isn’t a same-day thing. Plan for it before the tree comes down, not after the pile is already sitting there.
Residential open burning is approved for piles of clean untreated wood and garden debris. It does not include grass clippings, standing grass, or leaves. Burning in a barrel is prohibited outright.
Now the detail that matters most after a tree removal: wet or green timber is on the city’s prohibited list. Fresh wood off a tree that came down last week is green. It doesn’t qualify, no matter what the permit says, and it’s the single most common mismatch between a tree job and a burn plan. Wood has to season before it’s legal to burn here, which pushes burning out of the “deal with it this weekend” category entirely.
Even with a permit in hand, burning isn’t authorized until you call the open burning line at (785) 368-4403 and get approval for that day. The remaining rules:
- Daylight hours only, and the fire has to be out by sundown.
- No burning when surface wind is under 5 mph or over 15 mph.
- No burning in fog, inclement weather, or on very cloudy days with a ceiling under 2,000 feet.
- No burning within 50 feet of any structure, measured to the nearest one, including a shed or a neighbor’s garage.
- A competent person has to attend the fire the whole time, with a garden hose connected to water or other approved equipment ready.
Violations can mean the permit gets suspended or revoked, or a municipal court citation. Burning operations also have to meet Kansas open burning regulations at K.A.R. 28-19-645 and 28-19-648.
One useful distinction: a recreational fire is different and needs no permit. That’s a fire no larger than 3 feet across with the pile no more than 2 feet tall, for cooking or warmth, kept at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material. Clean untreated wood only, same as always. A backyard fire ring is not a brush disposal method, but it’s a legitimate way to work through a few seasoned rounds over a winter.
Does the City of Topeka pick up storm debris?
Sometimes, and only after a significant storm. This is not a standing service you can call for on an ordinary week.
When the city activates storm debris collection, crews run grapple trucks through neighborhoods and pick up vegetative debris at no charge, meaning limbs, leaves, and tree trunks caused by the storm. Trash, tires, and construction debris are excluded. Residents are asked to stack material at the back edge of the curb and keep it clear of trees, power lines, mailboxes, gas meters, and fire hydrants so the grapple arm can reach it without tearing something out.
The practical takeaway is that you shouldn’t plan around it. After a major wind or ice event, check whether collection has been announced and where crews are working. Outside of that window, the county curbside limits and the yard waste facility are your options. If a limb has already come down on something, the sequence in our guide on storm damage to a roof or fence matters more than the debris question, since documentation comes before cleanup on an insurance claim.
One exception worth knowing if you own ground out by the lake. When a tree comes down across a Corps of Engineers project boundary near Perry Lake, cutting it up is a federal permission question before it is a disposal question, and the narrow dead-wood allowance in that rulebook is not permission to haul the wood home. Our guide to Corps of Engineers tree removal near Perry Lake walks through it.
Is ash wood still quarantined in Shawnee County?
No, and this is where a lot of older advice is now wrong.
The federal emerald ash borer domestic quarantine was removed by USDA APHIS in a rule that took effect January 14, 2021. The Kansas Department of Agriculture followed, rescinding its county EAB quarantines by March 1, 2021. Shawnee County was one of the ten Kansas counties covered, along with Atchison, Doniphan, Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, and Wyandotte. The state shifted its effort to education, outreach, survey, and biological control instead.
So moving ash wood out of Shawnee County is no longer a regulated act. That does not make it a good idea. Long-distance EAB spread has always been driven by people hauling infested firewood, not by beetles flying, and the reason the quarantine came off was that it wasn’t slowing the pest down, not that the risk disappeared. Burn ash locally or let the crew dispose of it. Don’t load it up for a lake cabin. Our fuller writeup on emerald ash borer in Shawnee County covers what an infested tree looks like and when treatment is still worth it.
What does a tree crew haul away, and what gets left?
A standard removal quote generally covers felling or sectioning the tree, bucking the wood into manageable pieces, chipping the brush, and hauling it off. That’s the default, and it’s why most homeowners never touch any of the above.
What varies is the fine print. Ask whether the crew will leave rounds for firewood if you want them, whether stump grinding is bundled or a separate line item, and where the grindings end up, since a full-depth grind produces a surprising volume of material that has to go somewhere. Our breakdown of what a removal actually costs in Topeka walks through how access, height, and disposal all move the number.
There’s also a licensing angle worth knowing. Topeka requires tree companies working in the city to hold a city license, and under TMC 12.65.030(b) a permit for work on public property can be revoked if the person doing the work fails to remove leaves, trimmings, branches, stumps, or trash from the premises. A crew that abandons your parkway full of brush isn’t just being sloppy. The permit rules in our Topeka tree removal permit guide cover which jobs need city approval in the first place.
At Topeka Tree Pro, we connect homeowners across Greater Topeka with insured local crews who handle the haul-off as part of the job, whether that’s a single tree removal in Rossville or a full storm cleanup after a spring line of wind. Call (785) 333-4052 and we’ll line up an estimate that spells out exactly where the wood goes.
Frequently asked questions
How many bags of yard waste will Shawnee County take a week?
Fifteen, on non-holiday weeks, and each bag should stay under 45 pounds. During weeks containing a county-observed holiday, yard waste and large items aren’t collected at all, though your regular refuse cart is still emptied on its scheduled day.
How long can tree branches be for Shawnee County curbside pickup?
Branches, shrubs, boards, and carpet have to be cut and tied into bundles no longer than 4 feet in length and 18 inches in diameter. Anything longer or thicker than that won’t be taken at the curb and needs to go to the yard waste facility instead.
What does the Topeka yard waste site charge to dump brush?
City of Topeka residents pay $10.00 for a compact truck or a trailer under 4 by 8 feet, and $15.00 for a full-size truck or a 4 by 8 single-axle trailer. Non-residents and businesses pay $15.00 and $20.00 for the same loads. From a double-axle trailer up, everyone pays the same, starting at $20.00 and topping out at $60.00 for a semi trailer.
Do I need a permit to burn brush in Topeka?
Yes. Residential open burning inside the City of Topeka requires a free annual permit from the Topeka Fire Department, issued after an on-site visit with the resident present. You also have to call the open burning line at (785) 368-4403 for approval on each day you plan to burn.
Can I burn leaves in Topeka?
No. Leaves, grass clippings, and standing grass are all on the prohibited list for residential open burning within the city and Shawnee County. Bag them for curbside collection instead, where they count toward your 15-bag weekly yard waste allowance.
Can I burn wood from a tree that was just removed?
Not right away. Wet or green timber is specifically prohibited from open burning in Topeka and Shawnee County, and wood from a recent removal is green. It has to season first, which typically means splitting and stacking it under cover through a summer before it qualifies as clean, dry, untreated wood.
Does the City of Topeka haul away storm debris for free?
Only when the city activates storm debris collection after a significant storm event. During those windows, crews pick up limbs, leaves, and trunks at no charge if the material is stacked at the back edge of the curb and clear of power lines, mailboxes, gas meters, and hydrants. Trash, tires, and construction debris are never included.
Can I still move ash firewood out of Shawnee County?
Legally, yes. Kansas rescinded its county emerald ash borer quarantines by March 1, 2021, after the federal quarantine was lifted on January 14, 2021. It’s still poor practice, because moving infested firewood is the main way the beetle travels long distances. Burn ash where it fell or have the crew dispose of it.
What happens to the wood chips from a tree job?
Most crews run brush through a chipper and haul the chips off with the rest of the debris. If you want them, say so before the job starts, since chips make usable mulch for beds and paths. The city facility also sells finished natural mulch at $8.00 a cubic yard for residents if you’d rather have a screened product than raw chips.