Leaves are starting to drop across the Mid-Columbia, and every city here handles them differently. There's no regional leaf-vacuum program like some Western Washington cities run — each city contracts its own hauler, sets its own rates and writes its own rules for bagging, carts and self-haul. Getting it wrong usually just means a missed pickup, but it's worth five minutes to check your city's specific setup before you rake a big pile to the curb.
Kennewick: Waste Management, and leaf pickup survives for now
Kennewick contracts curbside garbage and yard-waste collection to Waste Management, unlike Richland's city-run system or the Basin Disposal service used elsewhere in the Tri-Cities, according to CityRuleLookup. City code requires every residence to subscribe to the franchised hauler, and guarantees residential customers at least four free disposal coupons a year, usable at the transfer station, per CityRuleLookup's collection schedule page.
Rates are rising under the city's new long-term agreement with Waste Management: a 35-gallon cart went to $21.82 a month in 2025 and climbs to $25.81 a month in 2026, NBC Right Now reported.
Curbside fall leaf collection nearly got cut. City staff told council the program was "sparsely used" and floated pushing residents toward free dump coupons instead, but council directed staff to keep leaf pickup in the draft 10-year franchise terms, according to Citizen Portal's coverage of the debate. The final agreement was expected to come back for council action around Oct. 7, 2025. If you're counting on curbside leaf pickup this fall, call Kennewick's solid waste line or Waste Management customer service to confirm the exact 2026 schedule and coupon count before you assume anything — council had also debated raising free coupons from four to six, and that detail wasn't locked down as of the last public discussion.
Richland: one utility handles both bins, same day
Richland is the outlier: it runs its own municipal Solid Waste Utility rather than contracting to a private hauler. The city picks up both household garbage and yard waste weekly, on the same collection day, and asks residents to have containers at the curb by 6 a.m., according to the city's residential waste and recycling page.
Collected yard waste goes to the Horn Rapids Landfill for composting. If you bag debris instead of loading it loose, Richland asks that you use only BPI-certified compostable bags so the material can move through the composting process without contamination. The city also offers a yard-waste fee exemption for properties with no private landscaping, such as some condo units under an HOA, once verified by the solid waste manager. If that sounds like your situation, contact the utility directly to start that verification.
West Richland and Benton City: bag it, don't pile it
West Richland, Benton City and Prosser all use Basin Disposal for curbside collection, with Ed's Disposal, a Basin Disposal operation that's served the area for more than 30 years, running the actual routes, per Basin Disposal's company history.
Unlike Richland's loose-yard-waste system, West Richland's own guidance tells residents to bag yard waste and place it inside the regular garbage tote rather than setting out a separate pile at the curb, according to city guidance archived on westrichland.org. That's an easy rule to miss if you're used to how Kennewick or Richland handle things, so double-check before hauling a tarp full of leaves to the curb.
For billing or garbage-cart questions, call City of West Richland Utilities at 509-967-3431. For pickup timing or route questions, Basin Disposal's customer service line is 509-547-2476.
Pasco: BDI curbside, plus a self-haul option
Basin Disposal Inc. (BDI) runs curbside collection in Pasco. Residents who'd rather skip waiting for pickup can self-haul yard debris directly to the BDI Transfer Facility at 1721 Dietrich Road, open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to trash-pickup.org's Pasco schedule guide. BDI's general customer line is 509-547-2476; the transfer station itself can be reached at 509-547-6666.
The Franklin County household hazardous waste facility sits right next to the BDI Transfer Station, but it serves Franklin County residents only, which matters if you've got old pesticides or paint thinner mixed in with fall cleanup debris and you live in Benton County instead.
Pasco is also headed toward a bigger change: the city is moving toward curbside organics and composting collection by 2027, a shift that will eventually reshape how yard waste gets sorted there. That's a separate story Tri-Cities Today will follow as details firm up.
What Benton County itself does, and doesn't, do
Benton County does not run curbside collection anywhere. It only operates disposal and transfer infrastructure, leaving actual pickup arrangements to each city or, in unincorporated areas, to whichever hauler holds the state utility certificate for that area, per CityRuleLookup. If you live outside city limits, your hauler and rules likely differ from your nearest city's; check with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission or your specific provider.
Timing matters for your lawn, too
What you do with fall leaves and clippings connects directly to lawn health here, because Tri-Cities soils are mostly sandy and loamy over the Columbia Basin, and they drain and leach nutrients much faster than clay soils common elsewhere. WSU Extension recommends putting down fall nitrogen after your last mow of the season but before the ground freezes, and splitting the application into smaller doses on very sandy soil to cut down on leaching, according to WSU's home lawns guidance.
On aeration and thatch: WSU says lawns should be aerated in April/May or early September, since turf shouldn't be under heat stress when you do it, and recommends dethatching once buildup passes 3/4 to 1 inch, per WSU's lawn care basics publication. If you missed the early-September aeration window, your next good shot is next spring — pushing an aerator through cold, wet fall soil mostly just compacts it further.
Quick checklist
- Kennewick: Confirm curbside leaf pickup dates and current coupon count with the city or Waste Management before assuming last year's schedule applies.
- Richland: Bag loose debris only in BPI-certified compostable bags; ask about the no-landscaping fee exemption if it applies to your property.
- West Richland/Benton City: Bag yard waste and place it in your regular garbage tote, not a loose pile at the curb.
- Pasco: Self-haul option available at 1721 Dietrich Road; watch for curbside organics rules changing by 2027.
- All cities: Time fertilizer for after your last mow, before ground freeze, and split doses on sandy soil.
Frequently asked questions
Does any Tri-Cities city run a seasonal leaf-vacuum program? None of the four cities appear to run a large-scale seasonal leaf-vacuum service like some other regions do. Kennewick's curbside leaf pickup survived recent contract negotiations, but residents should confirm exact 2026 dates directly with the city or Waste Management.
Can I put loose leaves in my regular garbage cart? It depends on the city. Richland and Kennewick generally separate yard waste from garbage; West Richland's guidance specifically says to bag yard waste and put it in the regular garbage tote instead of setting out a separate pile.
What if I live in unincorporated Benton County? Benton County doesn't run curbside collection itself. Check with your UTC-certificated hauler, since rules and rates outside city limits can differ from any of the four cities covered here.
Where can Pasco residents drop off yard debris themselves? The BDI Transfer Facility at 1721 Dietrich Road takes self-haul yard waste Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
