Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability: reviews, rating and service info

The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability runs the City of Portland’s residential garbage, recycling and compost system for houses and smallplexes of two to four units. It assigns each neighborhood a franchised garbage company and sets the rates; the company does the pickup. Garbage goes every other week, and recycling, glass and compost weekly. The city’s lookup names your company and pickup days.

Serves: Portland, Oregon.

What they collect and how often

Garbage goes every other week in a company cart of 20, 35, 60 or 90 gallons; monthly rates from July 1, 2026 run from $39.60 to $57.95. Recycling in the blue cart, food and yard waste in the green cart and glass in the yellow bin go weekly at no extra charge. Under Oregon’s statewide recycling list, empty pizza boxes go in recycling even if greasy, and shredded paper now goes in the garbage.

Find your collection day

Enter the street address, without city, state or ZIP, in the city’s “Who picks up my garbage?” lookup to get the company and pickup days. The Garbage Day Reminders page prints a calendar and sends day-before reminders by app, email, text or phone.

Set-out rules

Bins go out by 6 a.m., within three feet of the curb, handles toward the house and lids closed, and come back in within 24 hours. Extra garbage costs $7.20 a bag or can, up to 32 gallons and 40 pounds; extra recycling is free.

Holidays

Collection stops only on Christmas and New Year’s Day. When either falls on a weekday, pickups from the holiday on move one day later, and Friday customers are served Saturday. Christmas 2026 and New Year’s Day 2027 both fall on a Friday. Snow, ice, heat or smoke can delay pickup by days; leave carts out until emptied.

Bulk, brush and special items

Your garbage company picks up furniture, appliances and other oversized items for a fee the city sets by item size; call the company to schedule. A real holiday tree up to 6 feet tall can go beside the green cart for $5.60.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off

Metro, the regional government, takes household hazardous waste free from households, up to 35 gallons a day: paint, cleaners, yard and pool chemicals, batteries, fluorescent bulbs and aerosol cans that are not empty. Metro Central, 6161 NW 61st Ave., takes it Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Metro South, 2001 Washington St., Oregon City, daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. TVs and computers cannot go in the garbage; Oregon E-Cycles sites, including both Metro stations, take them free. Metro answers disposal questions at 503-234-3000.

Missed pickup and contacts

If the company missed bins that were out by 6 a.m., call it within three days; it must return within 24 hours, not counting weekends and holidays. If you forgot, pay the $13.30 courtesy callback or set out up to double the next time at no charge. For repeated misses, contact BPS at 503-823-7202, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or wasteinfo@portlandoregon.gov; you may qualify for a bill credit.

What this is not

Apartment buildings of five or more units and businesses are not assigned a company: they hire any permitted hauler at rates the City does not set. Owners of one- to four-unit rentals must set up and pay for their tenants’ service.

On Trashbagging

• Portland trash pickup and city rules and the Oregon hub.
• Guides: pizza boxes, Christmas trees, paint, household hazardous waste.

Context photo: Downtown Portland and the Hawthorne Bridge across the Willamette River. M.O. Stevens, 2010-05-13. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.