Denver, CO bulk trash pickup: schedule, booking and rules

Who can use Denver large item pickup?

This guide covers Denver Solid Waste Management’s residential collection. The department’s recycling page identifies service for residential buildings with up to seven units. If you live in a larger apartment building, a managed complex or an HOA with a private hauler, ask your manager and 311 to confirm your disposal arrangements. Denver residential recycling service.

Denver bulk pickup is a route service: the city tells you when your address is due. The published large-item instructions direct residents to the calendar rather than an individual booking form. Keep an appliance on a separate plan, even when you are also clearing furniture from the same room. Large Item Pickup.

Denver Housing Authority properties have specific dumpster rules. Furniture, construction debris, dirt and sod do not belong in those dumpsters. The city’s DHA guidance says to use scheduled large-item days and keep the space around dumpsters clear. Ask property management where your items should go before carrying them down. Denver trash and DHA guidance.

How to check the trash pickup schedule in Denver

Enter your service address in the city’s Large Item Pickup calendar and look for the Large Item entry. You can also use the Denver Trash and Recycling app and sign up for reminders. The service normally falls on your regular collection weekday, but only once every nine weeks. Large-item calendar.

Check the service type as well as the date. A trash collection entry is not permission to leave a couch outside. If your calendar does not show a Large Item entry, check the city’s page or call 311 before setting anything out. Do not use a neighbor’s calendar as a substitute. Denver schedule instructions.

For Thanksgiving 2026, Denver says large-item collections scheduled for Thanksgiving week move to the address’s collection day in the following week of November 30. That is a special holiday arrangement. Read the current alert and your address calendar together; do not apply ordinary one-day holiday delays automatically. Collection schedules and Thanksgiving changes.

What Denver accepts and refuses

Source: Denver accepted-item rules.

The accepted list is for items that are safe to dispose of but cannot fit in a trash cart. If an object combines materials, such as furniture with an electrical component, check the Waste Directory linked by the city or ask 311. Do not assume it qualifies because its main material is wood. Large-item exclusions and Waste Directory.

Set-out time, mattress wrapping and clearance

• Have items outside by 6 a.m. on your scheduled collection day.
• Set out large items only during your assigned Large Item Pickup collection.
• Leave at least 2 feet between the items and carts, parked cars, poles or other obstructions.
• Put loose material in bags no larger than 32 gallons, weighing no more than 50 pounds each.
• Do not use cardboard boxes or non-city containers for extra trash; the city warns these may be left or disposed of.
• Bag and wrap mattresses and box springs before collection.

Source: Large-item collection instructions.

The large-item page does not publish a separate earliest evening set-out hour. Follow its scheduled-collection restriction and check with 311 if you need to place furniture outside the night before. Cart storage instructions are not automatically a bulk-furniture set-out allowance. Denver large-item instructions.

The city calls out-of-schedule large-item set-outs illegal dumping. Keep a move-out pile on your property until the correct collection or another disposal arrangement is ready. If your lease ends before your next Large Item day, consider a confirmed donation collection or a paid drop-off instead. Denver illegal-dumping warning.

Limits and fees for extra trash

The published allowance is five large items and up to ten extra bags from each service address. These are separate caps: spare bag capacity is not an allowance for extra sofas. Count everything you intend to leave, including mattress and box-spring pieces, and ask 311 about any uncertain item count. Large-item service limits.

Denver bills residential waste service according to trash-cart size. The trash page does not give a separate large-item appointment price, so check your account or 311 for billing questions rather than treating this guide as a free-hauling offer. If extra trash regularly exceeds your cart, the city directs you to request a larger cart. Residential waste billing.

For bundled branches, Denver’s trash guidance adds a maximum of ten bundles per household during scheduled large-item collection. Each bundle must weigh no more than 50 pounds and meet the length and diameter limits. Larger trunks and stumps need a different disposal route. Branch collection rules.

How to arrange Denver bulk pickup or appliance collection

1. Open the city’s Large Item Pickup page and enter the service address.
2. Find the next Large Item entry and save the date or enable reminders.
3. Check every object against the accepted list, then count large items and bags.
4. Prepare mattresses, bags and branch bundles to the published rules.
5. Set the eligible pile out by 6 a.m. on its scheduled day, with the required clearance.
6. For a stove, refrigerator, washer or other listed appliance, call 311 or 720-913-1311 to request a separate appliance appointment.

Source: Large Item Pickup.

Appliance collection is free by appointment for Denver residents served by Solid Waste Management. Accepted appliances include stoves, water heaters, furnaces, dishwashers, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, washers and dryers. The city arranges collection so metals are recycled and refrigerant gases are handled appropriately. Free appliance collection.

When requesting appliance collection, identify the appliance precisely and explain whether it contains refrigerant. Obtain the appointment instructions before moving it outside. Do not add a refrigerator to the ordinary furniture pile or assume the large-item truck will collect it while passing your home. Appliance appointments.

Missed pickup and reporting a problem

Start by checking the calendar, holiday alert and whether the pile met the rules. Denver’s schedules page lists holidays and blocked or improper set-out as common reasons a collection can be missed. Photograph the location and keep your address and scheduled date ready when seeking help. Missed-pickup guidance.

Call 311, or 720-913-1311, for help with collection issues. Denver Utilities Online also accepts service requests. Identify the problem as a large-item collection, not a cart collection, and ask what to do with the remaining pile while the request is reviewed. Denver service requests.

Report illegal dumping through 311 or the city’s online reporting service. Denver advises against confronting people who dump waste. If you can safely note a vehicle description or plate number, provide it to the city along with the exact location. Report illegal dumping.

Drop-off, recycling and donation alternatives

The city lists private facilities that accept household trash and large items for a fee, including D&R; Transfer Station, All Recycling North Transfer Station, DADS Landfill, South Metro Transfer Station and Jordan Road Transfer Station. Call ahead about your exact material, vehicle, hours and price. City-listed large-item drop-offs.

Cherry Creek Recycling and Compost Drop-off is for household recycling and compost, not a mixed furniture load. Its dedicated page lists 7400 Cherry Creek S Dr and requires Denver residency and proof of address. It excludes commercial vehicles, trailers, dirt, sod, paint and hazardous materials. Cherry Creek drop-off rules.

Check the dedicated facility page before traveling: its published hours differ from an older description on Denver’s general trash page. For usable furniture, the city links donation opportunities through its Waste Directory. Confirm a recipient’s acceptance and collection arrangements before committing to a donation. Current Cherry Creek facility page.

Hazardous waste disposal in Denver

Paint, batteries and other hazardous products must stay out of the large-item pile. Denver’s household hazardous waste page links paint recycling, battery disposal and an at-your-door collection program. Those options can be free or low cost depending on the material and service; check the program before arranging disposal. Denver household hazardous waste.

Electronics also need a separate route. Use the electronic-waste program or Waste Directory linked from the large-item page, rather than leaving a television beside furniture. Electronic-waste options.

Keep hazardous products in their appropriate containers while confirming the receiving program’s instructions; do not pour them into drains or leave them in an alley. Safe hazardous-product disposal.