Linwood Leaf Season Ends When the City Truck Passes Your Street, Not on December 31

The city calendar says leaf season runs through December 31. For most Linwood homeowners, though, the real deadline is the day the Public Works leaf machine rolls past your curb, and when that happens depends on which end of town you live in.

According to the city’s fall leaf collection notice, posted October 2, 2026, crews begin loose-leaf pickup at the north end of Linwood on November 1, 2026, and work their way south. Leaves set out after the crew has gone by won’t get picked up, because the trucks don’t double back. City pickup ends entirely after December 31, 2026, and from then on only scheduled ACUA collections are available.

So the math is simple. Before the crew reaches you, raking leaves to the curb costs nothing. After it passes, getting rid of them means buying kraft paper bags, waiting for an ACUA Saturday, or driving a load to the scalehouse in Egg Harbor Township.

One Pass, North to South

The route only goes one way. The city describes it as a systematic sweep meant to give every resident equal service, and that means piles that show up late get left where they are.

Where you live changes how this plays out. If you’re at the north end near the Northfield line, the crew may reach your street in early November, before a lot of trees have finished dropping. If you’re toward Somers Point at the south end, you have more time, but the last few weeks get tighter.

The city doesn’t post a street-by-street timetable. To find out where the crew is working, call Linwood Public Works at 609-926-7994. That’s the number ACUA’s Linwood page lists for the Public Works Supervisor.

Why the Crew Might Skip Your Pile

Three things will get a pile passed over:

1. Debris mixed in. Brush, branches and litter jam the machines and can do serious damage. Crews will leave those piles behind and alert the zoning officer, and the homeowner is then responsible for clearing the street.
2. Leaves over storm drains. Linwood has more than 500 storm water basins, and crews can’t keep all of them clear while they’re running leaf pickup. Leaves sitting on an inlet can lead to serious flooding at your house and the houses next to you.
3. Piles at the corner. At intersections, keep leaves at least 25 feet back from the corner.

Of the three, debris trips up the most people. It’s easy to toss a few branches from fall pruning onto the leaf pile, and that’s enough to get the whole thing skipped. Keep branches in a separate pile.

Once the Crew Is Gone: Two ACUA Options

If the truck has already passed your block, ACUA gives you two ways to handle what’s left.

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ACUA curbside Saturdays. Yard waste goes out on select Saturdays listed on ACUA’s Linwood collection page. Per ACUA’s yard waste rules, plastic bags aren’t allowed. Use kraft paper bags or marked containers and have them out by 7 a.m. ACUA’s service page sets the weight limit at 49 pounds, while the Linwood calendar says 50, so keeping each bag under 49 pounds covers you either way.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. Pumpkins, hay and straw bales, cornstalks, bamboo, reeds, seagrass, pampas grass and food don’t count as yard waste, so leave them out of your bags.

Christmas trees. ACUA takes them curbside. That’s useful timing, since the city’s leaf program wraps up December 31, right around when a lot of trees come down.

Why the $10 Minimum Makes Delilah Road Worth the Drive

The ACUA Environmental Park is at 6700 Delilah Road in Egg Harbor Township. It’s open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon, with Saturday hours extended to 1 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It’s closed on Sundays.

Here you can bring yard waste loose. No bags, no twine and no size limits, so stumps and big limbs are fine.

ACUA’s listed yard waste rate is $1.38 per 100 pounds, or $27.50 per ton, with a $10 minimum at the scalehouse. You’d need roughly 725 pounds to go over that minimum, so most loads cost a flat $10.

This is the best option for oversized limbs, piles that missed the city crew, or the cleanup after a big pruning job.

Buy It Back at the Same Gate

ACUA turns that yard waste into compost. According to its EcoSoil product page, EcoSoil is a ready-to-use soil made without sludge, suited to planting beds and landscaping. It’s $20 per cubic yard, picked up at the same Delilah Road scalehouse and composting facility during the same hours. ACUA no longer delivers to residents.

Mulch is sold there too, priced per cubic yard for pickup at the Environmental Park:

• EcoMulch: $23
• Playground mulch: $24
• Black colored mulch: $28
• EcoRoot mulch: $28

For most people, the real choice comes down to the $5 difference between EcoMulch and the colored or EcoRoot options.

A Simple Plan for Your Street

Starting November 1, the city truck comes through once, moving south. Have your leaves loose at the curb before it gets to you, with no branches mixed in and nothing over storm drains or near corners.

For leaves that come down after that, bag them in kraft paper for an ACUA Saturday and check the Linwood calendar for dates.

Haul oversized limbs and big late loads to Delilah Road.

Keep these numbers handy:

• Linwood Public Works: 609-926-7994
• ACUA: 609-272-6950

Rules, fees and prices here come from the City of Linwood and ACUA as currently posted and may change, so confirm before you set anything out.

A well-kept yard is one of the first things buyers notice, and fall cleanup is a good moment to take stock of where your property stands. If you’re curious what your home is worth today, Daniel Rallo and the team will put together a free home valuation based on your street and recent sales nearby.