Illinois trash pickup is run by cities, counties and private haulers, not by the state, and your pickup day comes from your city’s or hauler’s own lookup. Among the largest cities, Chicago collects curbside itself; Aurora and Naperville contract a private hauler. Illinois has a PaintCare paint drop-off program, an electronics recycling law and a ban on yard waste in landfills, but no statewide bottle deposit or mattress program.
Find your city
- Chicago — Streets and Sanitation for buildings with four units or fewer. Recycling holiday rules differ by Blue Cart service area.
Other large cities and their official collection pages:
- Aurora: City of Aurora Sanitation, collected by the City’s contracted hauler Groot. Refuse and curbside recycling are picked up once a week on the same day, which depends on which of the city’s five sections you live in. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- Naperville: City of Naperville Department of Public Works, with collection contracted to Groot Industries. Curbside service starts automatically once city electric and water accounts are set up, and residents pay a $15.70 monthly refuse and recycling fee on the utility bill. Official page ↗
Missing your city? Suggest a City.
Who collects in Illinois
- Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation — municipal department
- Illinois EPA funds free household hazardous waste drop-off at long-term sites in Naperville, Rockford, Chicago’s Goose Island, Gurnee and Wood River, plus one-day collections each spring and fall. Source ↗
- Liquid motor oil and lead-acid batteries are banned from Illinois landfills. Source ↗
- State law bans landfilling used tires, and tire retailers must by law accept used tires from motorists buying new ones. Source ↗
National haulers (Republic Services, WM, Waste Connections) hold contracts in many places; the city or county names the hauler for each street.
State-level rules
- Container deposit: No statewide container deposit law. NCSL names ten deposit states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont; Illinois is not one of them. Source ↗
- Paint: Illinois is on the PaintCare roster. PaintCare’s program began in December 2025 under Illinois EPA oversight and lists 370 year-round sites where leftover paint can be dropped off free. See paint. Source ↗
- Mattresses: No statewide mattress take-back program. The Mattress Recycling Council runs Bye Bye Mattress only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. See mattresses. Source ↗
- Electronics: It is illegal to put covered electronic devices such as TVs, computers, monitors and printers in the trash, and the Consumer Electronics Recycling Act requires manufacturers to take part in a statewide recycling system. Source ↗
- Yard waste: Banned from landfills statewide. Since July 1, 1990, state law has barred mixing landscape waste with landfill-bound trash or putting it in non-biodegradable containers meant for landfill collection, and landfills may not accept it for final disposal except under narrow on-site composting or alternative daily cover exceptions. Source ↗
State agency
- State agency: Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Materials Management Unit. Its Materials Management Unit offers recycling guidance, coordinates household hazardous waste and medicine collections, and registers electronics manufacturers, collectors and recyclers. Official website ↗
- Find your local program: Illinois EPA Beyond the Bin recycling map ↗
- Contact: (217) 782-3397
Flag of Illinois. Public-domain artwork. Artwork: Denelson83. Source. Resized to 480 pixels wide.
Materials with their own rules
Paint · Lithium-ion batteries · Household hazardous waste · Mattresses · Pizza boxes · Christmas trees
Neighboring states
Indiana · Iowa · Kentucky · Missouri · Wisconsin
Sources
Official pages used: epa.illinois.gov · epa.illinois.gov · chicago.gov · chicago.gov · aurora.il.us · aurora.il.us · naperville.il.us · naperville.il.us · ncsl.org · paintcare.org · mattressrecyclingcouncil.org · epa.illinois.gov · ilga.gov · epa.illinois.gov.
Back to all states.