Seattle Public Utilities: reviews, rating and service info
Seattle Public Utilities runs garbage, recycling and food and yard waste collection inside the City of Seattle.
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Municipal departmentOfficial websitePublic phone: (206) 684-3000Schedule lookupMissed pickup
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) manages residential garbage, recycling and food and yard waste collection for the City of Seattle, with contracted haulers doing the pickup. Single-family homes get garbage and compost weekly and recycling every other week; apartments and condos may be collected more often. Carts go out by 7 a.m. The online collection calendar or (206) 684-3000 gives the day for your address.
Serves: Seattle, Washington. Not unincorporated King County.
What they collect and how often
Houses get garbage and compost weekly, recycling every other week. Extra recycling, up to one 96-gallon unit per collection day, is free. Extra garbage and extra yard waste are charged per unit: a 32-gallon can, a large bag or an overfull cart, and for yard waste also a bundle up to 4 feet long. Each extra garbage item may weigh up to 60 pounds.
Find your collection day
The online collection calendar shows the regular days and holiday schedule for the address, and the Recycle It app sends reminders. You can also call (206) 684-3000. The calendar does not change for weather delays; SPU posts those on its At Your Service blog.
Set-out rules
Carts go out by 7 a.m. on collection day, lids opening toward the street or alley, without blocking sidewalks, mailboxes or other driveways, and come back in as soon as possible. Backyard pickup is for garbage only and costs extra; SPU waives the fee for eligible residents with a disability and no one at home to help.
Holidays
There is no collection on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. If your day falls on the holiday, pickup moves one day later, and so does every later day that week; other holidays run normally. Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Monday, October 12, 2026, and Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, bring no change. For Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26, Thursday routes run Friday, November 27, and Friday routes Saturday, November 28. Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, moves Friday routes to Saturday, December 26, and New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2027, moves them to Saturday, January 2. Both transfer stations and both hazardous waste facilities close on those three days.
Bulk, brush and special items
Special Item Pickup, booked online or at (206) 684-3000 by the account holder, takes furniture, appliances, mattresses and TVs for $31 an item, up to 300 pounds; refrigerators and freezers with CFCs, such as pre-2005 models, cost $39.25. Items go out by 7 a.m. on the next regular garbage day after booking. Since April 1, 2026, each customer gets one free battery pickup and one free Special Item Box a year.
Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off
SPU’s North facility (12550 Stone Avenue North, Sunday to Tuesday) and South facility (8100 2nd Ave S, Thursday to Saturday) take household hazardous waste from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., free for all King County residents, no appointment. Both close on July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The battery pickup excludes car, e-bike and e-scooter batteries.
Missed pickup and contacts
Report a missed collection online after 6 p.m. on collection day and within two business days; SPU reschedules it within 24 hours. Customer service: (206) 684-3000, Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., or SPUCustomerService@seattle.gov.
What this is not
Seattle Housing Authority customers do not get garbage or food and yard waste service from SPU and should ask the housing authority. SPU’s hazardous waste facilities serve all of King County, but its curbside collection does not.
On Trashbagging
- Seattle trash pickup and recycling rules and Washington trash and recycling rules.
- Guides: lithium-ion batteries, household hazardous waste, mattresses, Christmas trees.
Context photo: Downtown Seattle skyline viewed from the University District. Viktoria Kampbell, 2014-12-21. CC BY 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.
- Legal name
- Seattle Public Utilities
- Operating status
- Active
- Public email
- SPUCustomerService@seattle.gov
- Headquarters
- Seattle, Washington
- Assignment model
- Municipal service
- Service summary
- Weekly garbage and food-and-yard waste for single-family homes. Recycling every other week. Apartments and condos may be collected more often. Look up the address. The online calendar does not update for weather delays.
- Waste streams
- Garbage; recycling; food and yard waste; special item collection (scheduled)
- Property eligibility
- City of Seattle residential accounts on SPU collection. Apartments and condos may be collected more often than houses. Seattle Housing Authority customers do not receive garbage or food-and-yard service from SPU.
- Office hours
- Customer service (206) 684-3000, Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Set carts out by 7:00 a.m. on collection day.
- Holiday schedule
- www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-and-disposal/your-collection-day/look-up-collection-day
- Primary source
- www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-and-disposal/your-collection-day
- Last verified
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Your review of Seattle Public Utilities
Sources
- Your Collection Day: frequencies, housing authority, contacts.
- Look Up Collection Day: calendar, weather note.
- Setting Out Waste for Collection: set-out, extras.
- Backyard Pickup Service: backyard garbage fee and waiver.
- Special Item Pickup: prices, free pickups.
- Report Missed Collection: reporting window.
- Contact Us: customer service hours.
- Household hazardous waste facilities: facilities, hours.
- 2025 winter holiday schedule: holiday rule.
- Recology King County: Seattle Holiday Calendar: 2026 holiday dates and changes.
- WM: Holiday Collection, City of Seattle: holiday rule in WM areas.
Questions
How often does Seattle Public Utilities collect?
What time do carts go out in Seattle?
Does Seattle collection change on holidays?
Does the online calendar show weather delays?
Does SPU serve unincorporated King County?
Sources and corrections. Each listing links the organization’s official website and its primary source page, with the date we last verified them; contacts and rules are copied from those pages, not from a brand’s advertising. Add a Service if an organization is missing, or Suggest an Edit if a listing is wrong. Submissions are reviewed against the official source before anything is published.