Atlanta Trash Pickup Schedule & Recycling Rules, Georgia

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

The Atlanta trash pickup schedule is set by Atlanta Solid Waste Services, part of the city’s Department of Public Works: the green garbage cart and the blue recycling cart go every week on the same day, and yard trimmings go every other week on that day. Your day depends on your address; look it up in the city’s collection tool or app. What trips people up: bulk items go only on a booked appointment.

• Who collects: Atlanta Solid Waste Services, the Office of Solid Waste Services in the City of Atlanta Department of Public Works, for single-family homes and small residential buildings
• Your pickup day: depends on your address; Solid Waste Services Collection Tool ↗ or the Atlanta Solid Waste Services app
• Holiday changes: a one-day delay on seven city holidays, next on Thanksgiving and Christmas; Solid Waste Holiday Collections ↗
• Missed pickup: after 3:30 p.m. on your collection day, report it to ATL311; Missed Residential Garbage ↗
• Contact: ATL311 at 3-1-1 or 404-546-0311, weekdays 7 a.m. to midnight; atl311@atlantaga.gov
• Official website: Office of Solid Waste Services ↗

Photo: Lake Clara Meer in Piedmont Park with the Midtown Atlanta skyline. Frank Schulenburg, 2024-05-01. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the Atlanta pickup schedule works

The Office of Solid Waste Services serves more than 100,000 residential households. Garbage and recycling share one weekday set by your address, and yard trimmings come on that same weekday in alternate weeks.

• Carts go to the curb no later than 7 a.m. on collection day and come back in by 9 a.m. the day after.
• Use only city-issued carts. New owners who are waiting for carts may set out up to five bags.
• The department posts each month’s yard trimming weeks on its Service Announcements ↗ page.
• Apartment complexes and commercial properties get no city yard trimming collection. Owners of apartment buildings, condominiums and townhome associations with six or more units must hire a recycling hauler (city code section 130-38).
• Residents 70 or older who live alone and cannot reach the curb can get free backyard service with a physician’s statement, renewed yearly. Other households can buy backyard service for $1,439.04.

What goes in the Atlanta recycling cart

Everything goes in loose, clean and dry; the city says not to bag recyclables. Unlike most of its metro neighbors, Atlanta takes glass. ATL311’s Recyclable Items ↗ has the city’s list, and the Waste Wizard in the collection tool and app looks up single items.

• Yes:
  • glass bottles and jars
  • aluminum and steel cans
  • cartons
  • mixed paper, mail, newspaper and magazines
  • flattened cardboard and food boxes
  • plastic bottles and containers numbered 1 to 5 and 7
• No:
  • plastic bags, empty or full
  • bagged recyclables
  • garbage, food and liquids
  • dirty food containers
  • cords, hoses and chains
  • electronics
  • tanks, wood, plastic furniture and scrap metal

A contaminated cart is not emptied until you fix it, and you risk a citation.

Yard waste and food scraps

Yard trimmings go every other week on your regular collection day. Set them out after 7 p.m. the day before and take back anything left by 7 p.m. on collection day.

• Accepted:
  • leaves and grass clippings
  • brush and flowers
  • roots and sod
  • wood waste
  • discarded Christmas trees
• Refused:
  • plastic bags and city carts
  • soil
  • food waste
  • lumber
  • animal waste

Use brown paper yard bags of no more than 34 gallons and 35 pounds, up to 20 bags a collection, or a reusable container of up to 32 gallons marked YARD TRIMMING on all four sides. Branches may be up to 4 feet long; the city’s yard trimmings page allows 4 inches across, while ATL311 allows 6 inches. Book 21 or more bags as bulk; contractors must haul away what they cut.

City of Atlanta residents, not businesses, can also drop yard debris at Hartsfield Landfill. CHaRM takes household food scraps for composting at 75 cents a pound.

Bulk trash pickup in Atlanta

Single-family residents get 12 bulk collections a year. Since February 16, 2026, bulk comes on your regular weekly collection day, and every collection must be booked.

• Book at least one business day ahead in the collection tool or app, or at 404-546-0311.
• Set items at the curb neatly, no earlier than 7 p.m. the night before, at least 6 feet from carts and yard trimmings, and never in the street, on the sidewalk, under low wires or beside mailboxes, hydrants or meters. A pile set out early can bring a notice of violation and, for repeat cases, citations of up to $1,000.
• One collection is up to 8 cubic yards.
• Cancel by 3 p.m. the day before. A booked pickup with nothing out still counts, and each collection beyond 12 costs $349.96 in fiscal 2027.

What a bulk collection takes and refuses:

• Accepted:
  • household furniture
  • household appliances such as washers, dryers, stoves and refrigerators
  • mattresses and box springs
  • carpet
  • barbecue grills
  • flat glass, securely wrapped or taped
  • railroad ties cut to 4 feet or less
  • tires, up to four in total
  • yard waste, up to 8 cubic yards
• Refused:
  • electronics such as computers, printers and TVs
  • household hazardous waste such as oils, fuels, paints and solvents
  • explosives and ammunition
  • metal drums
  • pressurized gas cylinders
  • debris from contractors, businesses, new construction, demolition or rental properties

Atlanta holiday trash schedule

On a one-day-delay holiday the city collects nothing that day, and collection runs a day late for the rest of the week; in the city’s 2026 notices, Friday routes were served on Saturday, carts out by 7 a.m. The other holidays on the city’s list keep the regular schedule.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

The City of Atlanta has no household hazardous waste collection program; it sends residents to its recycling partner, CHaRM. Only empty or hardened paint cans go in the garbage cart: leave latex open to dry, and mix oil paint with kitty litter or sawdust.

• CHaRM Atlanta (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, run by the nonprofit Live Thrive), 1110 Hill Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30315; 404-600-6386. By appointment only: Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. No cash. Fees: chemicals and paint free for the first 20 pounds, then 70 to 80 cents a pound; CFLs and fluorescent tubes 60 cents each; TVs and monitors $25; mattresses and box springs $15 twin or full, $18 queen or king; tires $3 each; appliances $15 to $20. Closed October 22, November 26 to 28, December 24 to 28, December 31 and January 1; closes early November 25.
• CHaRM DeKalb, 1225 Columbia Drive, Decatur, GA 30032. By appointment: Wednesday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Atlanta Recycles Day, Greenbriar Mall, 2841 Greenbriar Pkwy SW, Atlanta, GA 30331 (former Macy’s parking lot). Every third Saturday, February to December, 9 a.m. to noon. Takes paper for shredding, tires, small electronics and single-stream recycling; no clothing or textiles, plastic bags or wrap, or metal other than cans.
• Hartsfield Landfill, 2175 James Jackson Pkwy, Atlanta, GA 30318. Yard debris from City of Atlanta residents only, no businesses. Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.

Fees and billing

The solid waste charge is billed once a year with the property; the Fulton County Tax Commissioner collects it for the city (404-613-6100). The Department of Public Works rate page lists these annual charges:

• Taxpayers 65 and older with an annual income of $39,000 or less get a 30% exemption on the solid waste fee.
• Residents who were 65 or older before January 1, 2026, with 2025 income under $25,760, can apply for the recycling fee exemption (404-330-6240).
• An extra cart costs $70, paid by check, money order or cashier’s check.
• The department has proposed a phased rate adjustment in its 2026 Solid Waste Rate Study ↗; questions go to DPWRateStudy@atlantaga.gov or 404-546-0145.
• Bill questions: DPWSolidWasteBilling@atlantaga.gov or 404-546-1796.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

1. Wait until after 3:30 p.m. on your collection day; crews may still be working, and after a one-day-delay holiday your route runs a day late.
2. Check that the cart was at the curb by 7 a.m. and that recyclables were loose, not bagged.
3. Report a missed garbage, recycling, yard trimming or bulk pickup to ATL311 at 404-546-0311 or online. Report a missed bulk pickup within two business days, or you must book it again.

Ask ATL311 for a replacement if a cart is damaged; replacements take 7 to 10 business days. New owners apply for service in their own name with the settlement statement or warranty deed.

Set-out rules and fines

The Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Team (SWEET) enforces the sanitation code. Yard trimmings in plastic bags, carts left in the right-of-way and scrap tires are among its top violations, and a bulk pile set out too early can bring citations of up to $1,000. A tip on illegal dumping that leads to an arrest may earn up to $2,000.

Materials with their own rules

• Household hazardous waste: CHaRM, by appointment.
• Light bulbs: CFLs and fluorescent tubes to CHaRM, 60 cents each.
• Lithium-ion batteries: CHaRM, never the carts.
• Paint: dried out in the garbage cart, or CHaRM.
• Mattresses: a bulk appointment, or CHaRM for $15 or $18.
• Tires: up to four on a bulk appointment, Atlanta Recycles Day or CHaRM.
• Styrofoam: foam goes to CHaRM.
• Pizza boxes
• Christmas trees: yard trimmings.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: gas cylinders are refused on bulk and stay out of the blue cart.

More in Georgia

• Georgia 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