Phoenix Public Works: reviews, rating and service info

Phoenix Public Works reviews include concerns about higher bills, bulk-trash appointments and missed collections. In the city’s 2026 solid-waste survey, 71.6% of participants were satisfied with the service. The department collects weekly trash and recycling for Phoenix residential solid-waste accounts; your address determines the pickup day.

Serves: Phoenix, Arizona.

What they collect and how often

Trash goes bagged and tied in the trash container every week, from the alley or the curb. Recycling is collected weekly on the same day and goes to the city’s Materials Recovery Facility; the first two blue containers are free. An optional green organics container costs $10.58 a month each. A new monthly rate took effect July 1, 2026.

Find your collection day

Enter the address on the city’s Find Your Trash and Recycling Collection Day page or in the myPHX311 app. It gives one weekday for both trash and recycling; the two trucks may come at different times of day.

Set-out rules

Keep containers 15 feet from cars, light posts, mailboxes and other obstructions, with lids closed. Bag and tie all trash. The missed-collection form asks you to confirm the containers were out by 5:30 a.m., not overloaded and free of prohibited items.

Holidays

Only Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day change collection. Thanksgiving, November 26, 2026: Thursday moves to Friday and Friday to Saturday, November 28. Christmas, Friday, December 25: Friday moves to Saturday, December 26. New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2027: Friday moves to Saturday, January 2. Other city holidays run as usual, but the transfer stations close.

Bulk, brush and special items

Bulk trash is by appointment only, four a year, booked online or at 602-262-6251 at least three business days ahead. Set one pile of up to 10 cubic yards within 5 feet of the curb, no more than 7 days early and by 5:30 a.m. on the day. Bag grass, leaves and clippings, and cut limbs shorter than 4 feet and thinner than 12 inches. Tires, refrigerant appliances, window and mirror glass, rock, dirt and hazardous waste are refused.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off

Paint, chemicals, batteries and electronics stay out of the containers. Residential solid waste customers get one free at-home household hazardous waste pickup a year, booked online with the account number and PIN. Set a box marked “HHW” by the garage or front door, not at the curb, by 7 a.m. For e-waste with built-in batteries, the city points to Westech Recyclers, a City of Phoenix Zero Waste Business.

Missed pickup and contacts

Report a missed collection on the myPHX311 container form; its terms add a $10 fee per container type once the year’s courtesy collection is used. Public Works customer service: 602-262-6251 or solid.waste@phoenix.gov, TTY 711. Hazardous waste pickups: hhwcollection@phoenix.gov.

What this is not

Bulk trash is not a standing curb service: setting a pile out more than 7 days before an appointment violates city ordinance. Some neighborhoods book one community bulk date for everyone, so check before booking your own. The at-home hazardous waste pickup is only for Phoenix residential solid waste accounts.

Phoenix Public Works reviews and complaints

The city’s April 2026 council report summarizes a solid-waste customer survey completed by 6,729 participants: 71.6% were satisfied with the service, including 41.4% who were very satisfied. Participation was voluntary, through the city’s website and outreach, so the result describes respondents rather than every Phoenix household.

The city grouped 1,045 written survey comments into recurring themes:

• Affordability of the proposed rate increase.
• Frustration with bulk trash moving to appointments.
• Doubts about whether collected recyclables reach recycling.
• Missed collections, damaged containers, driver conduct and inconsistent collection times.
• Illegal dumping and dirty alleys, with requests for cleanup and enforcement.

These are concerns reported by survey participants; the report gives no count for each theme. The recycling concerns do not establish that materials were improperly disposed of.

Following public feedback, the city reduced its planned three-year monthly increase from $17 to $14. The approved standard fee is $42.32 a month from July 2026, rising to $47.32 in July 2027 and $51.32 in July 2028. Report a missed collection through myPHX311 or call 602-262-6251.

On Trashbagging

• Phoenix trash pickup and city rules and the Arizona hub.
• Guides: household hazardous waste, paint, lithium-ion batteries, mattresses.

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