Alabama trash pickup is run by cities, counties and private haulers, not by the state, and your pickup day comes from your city’s or hauler’s own lookup. Among the largest cities, Huntsville, Birmingham and Montgomery collect curbside themselves. Alabama has no statewide bottle deposit, PaintCare paint, mattress or electronics recycling program.
Find your city
The largest Alabama cities and their official collection pages:
- Huntsville: City of Huntsville Sanitation Office. Recycling runs on a separate schedule managed by the Solid Waste Disposal Authority’s contractor, the Recycling Alliance of North Alabama (256-880-6054), not by city garbage crews. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- Birmingham: Waste Services Division, City of Birmingham Department of Public Works. Neighborhoods have one dedicated household garbage day each week, and recycling is collected every other week on that same day. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- Montgomery: City of Montgomery Sanitation Department. Green-can garbage is collected twice per week and curbside trash (yard waste) once per week. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
Missing your city? Suggest a City.
Who collects in Alabama
- Collection and transportation of household solid waste in Alabama is regulated by the Alabama Department of Public Health, not by ADEM. Source ↗
- ADEM’s Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act set a statewide 25% waste reduction goal and a $1-per-ton landfill disposal fee that funds recycling grants to local governments. Source ↗
National haulers (Republic Services, WM, Waste Connections) hold contracts in many places; the city or county names the hauler for each street.
State-level rules
- Container deposit: No statewide container deposit law. NCSL says ten states and Guam have beverage container deposit systems, and Alabama is not one of them. Source ↗
- Paint: Not a PaintCare state. PaintCare says it operates programs in twelve states and the District of Columbia; Alabama is not among them. Leftover paint goes through the local household hazardous waste program; see paint. Source ↗
- Mattresses: No statewide mattress take-back program. The Mattress Recycling Council says its Bye Bye Mattress program operates statewide only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. See mattresses. Source ↗
- Electronics: No statewide electronics law. ADEM’s household fact sheet says household-generated electronics are exempt from hazardous waste regulation and a municipal landfill is an acceptable disposal method, though many Alabama landfills no longer accept CRTs or other electronic devices. Source ↗
State agency
- State agency: Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), Land Division — Solid Waste Branch and Materials Management Section. It writes and enforces Alabama’s landfill and recycling-facility rules under ADEM Administrative Code Division 13, permits solid waste disposal facilities, and awards Alabama Recycling Fund grants to local recycling programs. Official website ↗
- Find your local program: ADEM recycling directory: public recycling drop-off locations listed by county ↗
Flag of Alabama. Public-domain artwork. Artwork: Steve Hall. Source. Resized to 480 pixels wide.
Materials with their own rules
Paint · Lithium-ion batteries · Household hazardous waste · Mattresses · Pizza boxes · Christmas trees
Neighboring states
Florida · Georgia · Mississippi · Tennessee
Sources
Official pages used: adem.alabama.gov · adem.alabama.gov · huntsvilleal.gov · huntsvilleal.gov · maps.huntsvilleal.gov · birminghamal.gov · birminghamal.gov · montgomeryal.gov · montgomeryal.gov · ncsl.org · paintcare.org · mattressrecyclingcouncil.org · adem.alabama.gov · adem.alabama.gov.
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