Massachusetts 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, Boston, Worcester and Springfield collect curbside themselves. Massachusetts has a bottle deposit, an electronics recycling law and a ban on yard waste in landfills, but no statewide PaintCare paint or mattress program.
Find your city
- Boston — Public Works address search. Buildings with seven or more units follow a different program, and some dense neighborhoods have two trash days a week.
- New Bedford — Capitol Waste Services under the city’s Facilities and Fleet Management; trash and recycling weekly on one day, and mattresses $10 by appointment.
Other large cities and their official collection pages:
- Worcester: Worcester Department of Public Works & Parks. Household trash goes out in the city’s pay-as-you-throw yellow bags, and trash and recycling go to the curb between 6 and 7:30 a.m. on collection day. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- Springfield: Springfield Department of Public Works. Recycling is collected every other week (A or B week) on your regular trash day, and everything must be out by 6:30 a.m. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
Missing your city? Suggest a City.
Who collects in Massachusetts
- Boston Public Works — municipal department
- Casella — Northeast brand; confirm the town page first
- Every Massachusetts city and town with curbside collection or a drop-off center accepts the recyclables on MassDEP’s What to Put in Your Bin list, with the same restrictions. Source ↗
- Keep old chemicals, cleaners, paint and pesticides out of the trash, the recycling bin and the drain; store them for a community household hazardous waste collection or take them to a local, regional or commercial facility. Source ↗
- Massachusetts has no electronics take-back law, and MassDEP reports drop-off fees for residents ranging from free to $50 per item. 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: Massachusetts has a bottle deposit law. Five-cent deposit on carbonated soft drink, beer, malt beverage and sparkling water containers, refunded by retailers that sell them or by redemption centers. Source ↗
- Paint: Not a PaintCare state. Massachusetts has no paint stewardship law; a state commission recommended a PaintCare-style program in January 2026. Leftover paint goes through the local household hazardous waste program; see paint. Source ↗
- Mattresses: No statewide mattress take-back program. Bye Bye Mattress runs only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. See mattresses. Source ↗
- Electronics: Cathode ray tubes (older TVs and computer monitors) are banned from disposal. Source ↗
- Yard waste: Banned from landfills statewide. Leaves and yard waste are on MassDEP’s list of materials banned from disposal or transfer for disposal. Source ↗
- MassDEP bans mattresses, textiles, leaves and yard waste, cathode ray tubes, large appliances, lead-acid batteries, recyclable paper and cardboard, and glass, metal and plastic containers from disposal, among other materials. Source ↗
- Mattresses and textiles were added to the Massachusetts disposal ban list on November 1, 2022. Source ↗
- Residents with private trash collection should ask their hauler about recycling options for banned materials. Source ↗
State agency
- State agency: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), Bureau of Air and Waste. MassDEP sets the statewide waste disposal bans in its solid waste facility regulations and inspects landfills and combustion facilities for banned materials. Official website ↗
- Find your local program: MassDEP city and town recycling links ↗
Flag of Massachusetts. Public-domain artwork. Artwork: State of Massachusetts. 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
Connecticut · New Hampshire · New York · Rhode Island · Vermont
Sources
Official pages used: mass.gov · mass.gov · mass.gov · boston.gov · boston.gov · boston.gov · worcesterma.gov · worcesterma.gov · springfield-ma.gov · springfield-ma.gov · maps.springfield-ma.gov · mass.gov · malegislature.gov · byebyemattress.com · mass.gov · mass.gov · mass.gov.
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