Refuse and recycling carts at the curb
Streets & Urban Forestry
  1. Closed for Labor Day

    No curbside pickups on Labor Day, Monday, 9/1/25. Drop-off-sites & offices also closed.  

    If you have a Monday pickup day, we will collect scheduled carts on Tuesday, 9/2/25.

    Drop-off sites reopen 9/2/25 on their posted hours.

Household Cleanup

The Streets Division will collect material outside of the carts in certain situations.

On this page you will you find:

Trash Collection Outside the Carts

If you follow the below rules and limits, six or more bags of trash will be collected on your normal schedule trash pickup day.

Rules and Limits

  • Six or more bags will be collected on two consecutive weeks, or at the discretion of the Streets Division supervisors.
  • You must have a full trash cart along with the extra bags outside of the cart.
  • Extra trash must be 30-gallon bags.  Do not put your extra trash into boxes, totes, or other containers.  Do not scatter your small trash loose on the ground.
  • The max weight for each bag of trash is 40 pounds. 

Other Options for Extra Trash

  • If you have fewer than 6 bags of trash that do not fit into your full cart, talk with your neighbor to see if they will let you place your extra trash into the cart they use.
  • Use a Streets Division drop-off site
  • If extra trash is a regular problem for your home, get a larger size trash cart for free, or buy an extra cart, or rethink what you buy to make less trash.

Recycling Collection Outside the Carts

Recycling outside the cart will be collected only twice in a single calendar year, or at the discretion of a Streets Division supervisor, if you follow the below rules and limits.

Rules and Limits

  • All recyclables must be clean, empty, and dry - just like recyclables inside the green cart.
  • Extra recycling will only be collected on the scheduled recycling day.
  • Recyclables must be in bags you can see through. They do not have to be perfectly clear bags, but they do need to be see-through enough where a reasonable person could look at them on the ground and understand that each bag has recyclables inside and not trash.
  • The max weight for each bag of recyclables is 40 pounds.
  • A maximum number of 10 bundles of cardboard are allowed.  See the Excess Cardboard page for the rules about how to handle cardboard not in the cart. 

Other Options for Extra Recycling

  • Use a Streets Division drop-off site.
  • Talk with a neighbor to see if they have space the cart they use for the extra recyclables you have.
  • If excess recyclables is happens a lot at your home, try one of these options:
    • Get a bigger cart for free
    • Buy an extra cart if you already have the largest size
    • Rethink what you buy to make less waste

Dumpster and Pod Permit Information

Sometimes when cleaning out a house, it's easier to rent a dumpster or a moving pod.  

If the clean up is very large and will produce a substantial amount of trash, it will a dumpster service may be the easiest solution.

The City of Madison does not provide dumpsters. Private trash collection companies do that.  We cannot recommend one company to you over others.

In order to park a dumpster or a pod on the public street for a period of time, you will need to obtain a Street Occupancy Permit.

The Streets Division does not issue these permits - they come from other agencies.

Follow the steps below to get the process started:

Recyclopedia

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Trash & Recycling