Chicago Trash Pickup Schedule, Recycling Zones and Holidays

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Chicago trash pickup: collection days, Blue Cart zones, holidays and bulk rules.

The Chicago trash pickup schedule is weekly, Monday through Friday, on a day set by your address: the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) empties the black cart at single-family homes and buildings of four units or fewer. The blue recycling cart goes every other week, in your zone’s highlighted week. Recycle Coach shows both days. What trips people up: holidays stop garbage citywide but recycling only in some zones.

• Who collects: Chicago Streets and Sanitation (DSS) for single-family homes and buildings of up to four units; Blue Cart recycling by DSS in zones 2 and 4 and by the City’s contractor LRS in zones 1, 3, 5 and 6
• Your pickup day: depends on your address; look it up and set reminders in the Recycle Coach app or on Chicago Recycles ↗
• Holiday changes: no garbage on 11 City holidays; recycling skips depend on your zone. Holiday Garbage Schedule ↗
• Missed pickup: a CHI 311 request online, in the app or by calling 311. CHI 311 ↗
• Contact: 311 (312-744-5000 from outside Chicago); recycling questions 312-744-2413
• Official website: Department of Streets and Sanitation ↗

Photo: Chicago skyline at dusk viewed from Willis Tower. Jesse Collins, 2016-02-08. CC BY 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the Chicago pickup schedule works

The Bureau of Sanitation collects garbage from about 600,000 households, weekly, Mondays through Fridays. Under the Municipal Code, DSS is the only garbage collector for residential properties of four units or fewer: those homes cannot switch to a private hauler. Buildings of five or more units and businesses are not on City collection; their owners hire a private hauler for garbage and recycling.

Blue Cart recycling runs in six zones. DSS empties zones 2 and 4; LRS, the City’s recycling contractor, empties zones 1, 3, 5 and 6. The 2026 Blue Cart map and schedule ↗ shows your zone, its hauler and its highlighted weeks.

• Alley service: leave the blue cart in the alley for your entire highlighted week.
• Curbside service: put the blue cart out on your garbage day during your highlighted week, unless told otherwise.
• Timing: carts out in the alley or at the curb the night before; recycling trucks can arrive as early as 7 a.m.
• Access: crews do not enter private property, so carts must not be blocked by parked cars or sit behind gated enclosures.
• Holiday weeks: keep carts accessible all week, because the exact service day may vary.

What goes in the Chicago recycling cart

Put recyclables in the blue cart loose and together: no sorting and no bags. Break down cardboard boxes to save space, but do not crush cans or cartons, because crushed ones are harder to sort.

• Yes:
  • Paper
  • Cardboard boxes, broken down
  • Plastic bottles and jugs
  • Metal cans, not crushed
  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Cartons, not crushed
  • The clean, ungreasy parts of pizza boxes
• No:
  • Plastic bags
  • Other soft plastic and film
  • Recyclables in a bag
  • Hoses
  • Aerosol cans
  • Lithium-ion batteries
  • The greasy or food-soiled parts of pizza boxes

The City’s What Goes Where tool ↗ (Recycle Coach) takes a description or a photo of any item and names the right cart or drop-off option. Two City drop-off centers take the same materials as the Blue Cart, 7 days a week during daylight hours: 6441 N. Ravenswood and 1758 S. Clark Street. The plastic recycling numbers guide explains the codes on containers.

Yard waste and food scraps

Yard waste is picked up separately, on request: call 311, then leave it in the alley or at the curb, bagged apart from both carts. DSS takes it to be composted. That means leaves, grass clippings, branches, brush, shrub clippings and garden waste, but not dirt, rocks or gravel. The City runs dedicated bagged-leaf trucks to help clear yards, parkways and storm drains.

DSS does not collect food scraps at the curb or alley. Any Chicago resident can sign up for one of 33 free Food Scrap Drop-Off sites, open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Meat, dairy and cooked food are accepted; bags of any kind, napkins, pizza boxes and compostable foodware are not. The same sites take pumpkins with paint, decorations and candles removed; pumpkins go inside the green carts, never beside them.

Christmas trees go to the annual Holiday Tree Recycling Program, run by DSS and the Chicago Park District at park corrals each January; in 2026 it ran January 3 to 17 at 27 sites. Remove tinsel, lights, ornaments, stands and plastic bags.

Bulk trash pickup in Chicago

There is no fixed bulk day. Before putting out any large item or an extra load of trash, such as after cleaning a basement or attic, arrange a bulk pickup with your ward’s Streets and Sanitation superintendent through your district sanitation office ↗ or 311. Bulk pickup costs nothing beyond the garbage fee.

• Remove doors or lids from refrigerators and freezers before setting them out.
• Do not pile items on or against the garbage cart; that is a fineable violation.
• Remodeling debris is the owner’s to remove; dumpsters can be rented for it.

Chicago holiday trash schedule

On 11 City holidays in 2026 there is no garbage service citywide and no recycling in DSS zones 2 and 4. LRS zones 1, 3, 5 and 6 skip recycling only on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and work a normal Monday-to-Friday week on the other holidays. Three holidays are still ahead in 2026.

Recycle Coach reminders also flag holiday changes and weather delays. The Veterans Day page compares other cities.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Chemicals, rechargeable batteries and electronics go to one year-round City facility; never leave items outside it.

• Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling Facility (HCCRF), 1150 N. North Branch Street, two blocks east of the Kennedy Expressway at Division Street. Tuesday 7 a.m. to noon, Thursday 2 to 7 p.m., first Saturday of every month 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residential waste only. The blue building takes household chemicals, the yellow one electronics; an attendant checks every item and hands back what is refused.
• Recycling drop-off centers, 6441 N. Ravenswood and 1758 S. Clark Street. Daily during daylight hours. Blue Cart materials only.

The HCCRF takes these chemicals:

• Accepted:
  • Household cleaners, bleach and drain cleaners
  • Rechargeable, lithium and car batteries
  • Oil-based paint, aerosol paint and paint thinner
  • Solvents, stains and paint strippers
  • Fluorescent bulbs and tubes
  • Antifreeze
  • Motor oil, gasoline and other auto fluids
  • Herbicides, pesticides and insecticides
  • Propane tanks for BBQ grills
  • Lawn, pool and hobby chemicals
  • Mercury thermometers, switches and thermostats
  • Small fire extinguishers
• Refused:
  • Alkaline batteries
  • Latex, acrylic and water-based paint
  • Household appliances
  • Air conditioners and refrigerants
  • Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
  • Tires
  • Sharps, needles and other medical waste
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Explosives, ammunition and fireworks
  • Business waste

Electronics. The HCCRF also takes computers, monitors, TVs, printers, keyboards and mice, DVD players, game consoles, music players, converter boxes and cable boxes. Commercial electronics are refused, and once the truck is full no more are taken.

Batteries. Since January 1, 2026, producers selling batteries in Illinois must fund free drop-off through an approved program: The Battery Network, formerly Call2Recycle, which has an online site locator.

Latex paint. The HCCRF does not take it. Dry it with kitty litter, shredded paper or sawdust and trash it with the empty can, or take it to a PaintCare drop-off site.

Fees and billing

City garbage service costs $9.50 per dwelling unit per month: $19 for a two-unit building, $28.50 for three units and $38 for four. It is billed on the unified utility bill with water and sewer, every two months for homes with a water meter and monthly for homes without one. The fee was last adjusted in 2016; a council proposal to raise it to $18 was left out of the final 2026 budget. Eligible seniors pay $4.75 per unit, usually applied automatically. Recycling, yard waste and bulk pickup cost nothing extra. For a wrong unit count, call Utility Billing & Customer Service at 312-744-4426.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

1. Check your highlighted week first: alley blue carts can be emptied on any day of that week.
2. File a CHI 311 request at 311.chicago.gov ↗, in the CHI 311 app or by calling 311.
3. For a missing, stolen or damaged black cart, request a free replacement through 311.
4. For carts at a newly built or rehabbed home, or a blue cart, call 311.

Set-out rules and fines

• Keep the lid tightly closed whenever garbage is inside, and never leave raw garbage outside the cart. Only the owner, agent or occupants may use a property’s cart. Fine under Municipal Code 7-28-260: $200 to $500 for each use, each day a separate offense.
• Do not overfill the cart so the lid cannot close, or pile refuse on or against it. Fine: $200 to $500 per offense, each day a separate offense.
• Material stored outside on private property must be neatly stacked on open racks at least 18 inches above the ground.

Materials with their own rules

• Household hazardous waste: the HCCRF, three days a week.
• Paint: oil-based to the HCCRF; latex dried and trashed, or to PaintCare.
• Acetone and bleach: household chemicals for the HCCRF’s blue building.
• Lithium-ion batteries: never in the Blue Cart; the HCCRF or a Battery Network site.
• Household batteries: alkaline batteries are refused at the HCCRF; use a Battery Network site.
• Car batteries: the HCCRF takes car and small lead-acid batteries.
• Used motor oil, antifreeze and old gasoline: the HCCRF, as auto fluids.
• Light bulbs: fluorescent bulbs and tubes to the HCCRF.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: never in the Blue Cart; the HCCRF takes both.
• Fire extinguishers: small ones to the HCCRF.
• Old TVs and computers: the HCCRF’s electronics building.
• Microwaves: the HCCRF refuses household appliances; arrange a bulk pickup.
• Refrigerators and freezers: a bulk pickup with the doors or lid removed; the HCCRF refuses refrigerants.
• Needles and sharps: the HCCRF refuses them.
• Mattresses: arrange a bulk pickup first.
• Pizza boxes: clean parts recycle, greasy parts go in the trash.
• Pumpkins: the 33 Food Scrap Drop-Off sites.
• Christmas trees: the January Holiday Tree Recycling Program at park corrals.

More in Illinois

• Illinois state rules and agencies
• Holiday changes by city
• Bulk pickup rules by city
• Missed pickup contacts by city
• Trash service cost by city
• Drop-off locations by city