Phoenix Trash Pickup Schedule & Recycling Rules, Arizona

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Phoenix trash pickup: collection days, recycling and bulk waste rules.

The Phoenix trash pickup schedule is set by Phoenix Public Works: the black trash container and the blue recycling container go every week on the same day, emptied by separate trucks at different times, and the optional tan green organics container also goes weekly. Your day depends on your address; look it up on the city’s collection day map or in myPHX311. What trips people up: bulk trash goes only by appointment, four times a year.

• Who collects: Phoenix Public Works, the City of Phoenix Public Works Department, for houses, buildings of up to 30 units, mobile home parks, townhomes and condos
• Your pickup day: depends on your address; Find Your Trash and Recycling Collection Day ↗ or the myPHX311 app
• Holiday changes: only Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, one day late; Holiday Collection Schedule ↗
• Missed pickup: myPHX311 Solid Waste Container form ↗; $10 per container type once the year’s courtesy collection is used
• Contact: 602-262-6251 (TTY 711), solid.waste@phoenix.gov
• Official website: City of Phoenix Public Works Department ↗

Photo: Downtown Phoenix skyline illuminated at night. Alan Stark, 2012-09-21. CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the Phoenix pickup schedule works

Public Works serves more than 422,000 households. Trash and recycling share one weekday set by your address; trash goes to a transfer station and then the city’s State Route 85 Landfill, recycling to the city’s sorting plant.

• Containers go out by 5:30 a.m. City code allows them at the curb from 6 p.m. the evening before and requires them back off the curb before 5:30 a.m. the day after.
• Keep 15 feet clear of cars, mailboxes and light poles, set containers 4 feet apart, openings toward the street or alley, and keep lids closed.
• Bag and tie all trash and grass, a Maricopa County rule. Recyclables go in loose.
• Some neighborhoods have alley service instead of curbside.
• The city does not serve businesses or buildings with more than 30 units.
• The 60-gallon trash container is only for households enrolled in recycling. Deliveries of the smaller size are taking more than seven days.

What goes in the Phoenix recycling cart

Phoenix goes by its Recycle Master List, not the numbers on plastics; the Recycle Right Wizard ↗ checks single items. Everything goes in loose and free of food, grease and liquids.

• Yes:
  • flattened cardboard
  • cereal boxes, liner removed
  • office paper, junk mail and envelopes
  • magazines and newspaper
  • paper bags and non-metallic wrapping paper
  • empty milk cartons and juice or soup boxes
  • paper or plastic egg cartons
  • clean pizza boxes
  • hard plastic bottles, jars and jugs, caps on
  • plastic cups, tubs and clamshells
  • aluminum and steel cans
  • clean foil, balled to softball size
  • glass bottles and jars, lids off
• No:
  • plastic bags and other soft plastics
  • foam, even when marked #6
  • compostable plastics
  • paper towels, napkins and tissues
  • food scraps and yard waste
  • electronics
  • batteries
  • light bulbs
  • medical sharps
  • large scrap metal and car parts
  • anything smaller than 2.5 inches across

Shredded paper is the one thing that goes in a bag: a clear plastic one. A greasy pizza box can lose its bottom to the trash while the clean lid goes in the blue container. A quick rinse is enough; items do not need to be spotless.

Yard waste and food scraps

The tan green organics container is a subscription for eligible areas, $10.58 a month per container; check your address on the map on the Curbside Green Organics page ↗ and enroll through myPHX311. Its contents go to the city’s 27th Avenue Compost Facility.

• Yes:
  • branches
  • lawn clippings
  • tree fruit and garden debris
  • untreated wood
  • cactus
  • large animal manure
  • creosote, oleander and pyracantha
• No:
  • palm fronds
  • bags
  • treated and painted wood
  • blocks, bricks and construction debris
  • food waste
  • dirt and rock
  • pet waste and diapers
  • trash, cups and fast food containers
  • hoses, tarps, metal and glass

Food scraps have no curbside container in Phoenix. The city sells backyard composters made from retired containers for $5 at the transfer stations; email solid.waste@phoenix.gov first to check that some are in stock. Clean yard waste also counts toward the free monthly transfer station load.

Live Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands went free to marked areas at 14 city parks from December 26, 2025 to January 9, 2026, stripped of lights and decorations. Trees can also go to a transfer station or out with a bulk appointment.

City of Phoenix bulk trash pickup

Bulk trash is collected by appointment only, four appointments per customer a year. Book with the widget on the Bulk Trash page ↗ or at 602-262-6251, at least three business days ahead and up to a year out. Most areas have openings within a couple of weeks. Some neighborhoods book one community date; check the community list on the bulk page before you book.

• Set the pile out no more than seven days before the appointment and by 5:30 a.m. on the day.

• One pile, up to 10 cubic yards, within 5 feet of the curb or front edge of the property and at least 5 feet from fixed objects, parallel to the street.

• Bag and tie grass, leaves, weeds, twigs and hedge clippings; cut branches under 12 inches thick and 4 feet long.

• Cancel at least two business days ahead through the confirmation email and the slot does not count against your four.

• The scheduler blocks Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day and the seven days after each.

• Accepted:

  • furniture
  • small appliances
  • toilets
  • large amounts of bagged or cut vegetation

• Refused:

  • household trash and loose debris
  • loose grass, leaves and clippings
  • hazardous waste such as antifreeze, pool chemicals, oil, batteries and paint
  • piles from more than one household
  • Bagster bags
  • more than two wooden pallets
  • bricks, concrete, dirt, rocks, asphalt and roofing
  • construction debris over 25 pounds or 4 feet
  • metal or car parts over 20 pounds or 4 feet
  • tires of any size
  • window glass, shower doors, mirrors and fluorescent tubes
  • refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners

Large appliances have their own paid curbside pickup, billed on the city services bill: $30 for up to five appliances without refrigerant, $25 each for a refrigerator, freezer or air conditioner, and $30 for up to two TVs. Refrigerator and freezer doors come off first. Call 602-262-6251 to book.

Phoenix holiday trash schedule

Only Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day change collection. On every other city holiday, trash and recycling run as usual but both transfer stations close.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Household hazardous waste is picked up at home, free, once per solid waste customer per calendar year. Book on the Household Hazardous Waste Collection page ↗ with the account number from the top right corner of your city services bill. The form shows openings for the next 30 days; if none appear, email hhwcollection@phoenix.gov. Seal everything in leakproof containers inside a box marked “HHW”, set beside the garage or front door, never at the curb, by 7 a.m.

• Accepted:
  • paint, thinner and stains, up to 10 gallons combined
  • cleaning chemicals, pool chemicals and aerosols, up to 5 gallons combined
  • antifreeze, motor oil and gasoline, up to 5 gallons combined
  • fertilizers and pesticides, up to 5 gallons combined
  • alkaline, lithium-ion and car batteries
  • grill and camp-stove propane tanks and fire extinguishers
  • fluorescent and CFL bulbs and mercury thermostats
  • phones, computers, printers and other electronics
  • TVs and monitors with unbroken glass, one per pickup, TVs under 50 inches
• Refused:
  • ammunition and explosives
  • medications and sharps
  • MAPP, acetylene and other compressed gases
  • biomedical and radioactive waste
  • business waste
  • regular or bulk trash

For devices with batteries that do not come out, the city points to Westech Recyclers, a City of Phoenix Zero Waste Business.

Transfer stations:

• North Gateway Transfer Station, 30205 N. Black Canyon Hwy., Phoenix, AZ 85085, half a mile northeast of the Dixileta Drive exit (exit 220).
• 27th Avenue Transfer Station, 3060 S. 27th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85009, south of Lower Buckeye Road.

Both are open Monday to Friday 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Sundays and city holidays. Residential customers drop off one load of up to 1 ton each calendar month free with a current city services bill and a photo ID that matches it; beyond that the gate rate is $55 a ton. Free extras: five car tires a year with the rims off, two CRT TVs a month and one appliance with refrigerant a year. Uncovered loads pay a $20 penalty. No hazardous waste.

Eco-station recycling bins at Deer Valley, Encanto, Los Olivos and Pecos parks, Desert West Community Center and, for now, Roadrunner Park take recyclables at any time.

Fees and billing

The solid waste fee is on the monthly city services bill and starts and stops with water service. It covers weekly trash and recycling, the free monthly transfer station load, four bulk pickups, one at-home hazardous waste pickup, dead animal pickup and container repairs. The City Council approved three increases on April 22, 2026:

From July 2029 to 2033, any yearly increase is capped at 5%. The 60-gallon trash container saves $5 a month. An extra black trash container costs $21.16 a month. Cancelling green organics or the smaller container may bring a $10 return fee. Late payments carry a 3% monthly fee. Project Assist helps customers at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Why the council raised the fee and what each step adds is in Phoenix solid waste rate increase: three steps from July 2026.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

1. Check the week: after Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, that day’s routes run one day late.
2. Make sure the container was out by 5:30 a.m., not overloaded and free of prohibited items.
3. Report the miss on the myPHX311 Solid Waste Container form ↗ or at 602-262-6251. Once the year’s courtesy collection is used, a return trip costs $10 per container type.

The same form orders repairs, replacements, extra containers and size swaps. Repairs from normal wear are free and done within 1 to 7 business days; leave the container visible beside the house. New builds: call 602-262-6251 after water service starts, and containers arrive within five business days.

Set-out rules and fines

• Chapter 27 violations carry a civil sanction of $100 to $2,500, and each day counts as a separate violation.
• A bulk pile out more than seven days before the appointment is a violation, as are containers left at the curb on other days.
• A container of up to 100 gallons may hold no more than 200 pounds.
• Inspectors check blue containers on selected routes for six weeks at a time. An orange reject tag means 20% or more contamination; four rejects in the six weeks cost the household its recycling container for a year.
• Report illegal dumping in progress to Crime Stop at 602-262-6151, and after the fact to 602-262-6251.

Materials with their own rules

• Household hazardous waste: one free at-home pickup a year.
• Lithium-ion batteries: never in the black or blue container; a common cause of truck fires.
• Paint: up to 10 gallons on the hazardous waste pickup, never in a bulk pile.
• Old gasoline: with other automotive fluids on the hazardous waste pickup, up to 5 gallons.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: both go on the hazardous waste pickup.
• Tires: five car tires a year at a transfer station, never in bulk.
• Pizza boxes: recycle the clean lid of a greasy box and trash the bottom.
• Styrofoam: foam stays out of the blue container, even when marked #6.
• Christmas trees: park drop-off sites after Christmas, a transfer station or a bulk appointment.
• Mattresses
• Light bulbs: fluorescent and CFL bulbs go on the yearly household hazardous waste pickup, never in the blue container.

More in Arizona

• Arizona trash and recycling rules
• Holiday changes by city
• Bulk pickup rules by city
• Missed pickup contacts by city
• Trash fees by city
• Drop-off locations by city