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

The Boston trash pickup schedule is set by Boston Public Works: trash and recycling go out on the same day every week and are emptied by separate trucks, and some addresses get trash twice a week. Your day comes from the city’s address search or the free Trash Day app. What trips people up: nothing goes to the curb before 5 p.m. the night before, and everything must be out by 6 a.m.

Boston Financial District skyline viewed from the harbor

Photo: Boston Financial District skyline viewed from the harbor. Nelson48, 2006-06-27. Public domain · Source. Resized for web.

How the Boston pickup schedule works

Public Works supervises the contracts for removing about 260,000 tons of solid waste a year and runs the recycling program. Its full curbside service (recycling cart, yard waste, mattress and special item pickup, food waste) is for buildings of six units or fewer.

Cart Color and size How often
Trash Black or gray barrel you buy, with a secure lid; wheels and a grab bar over 32 gallons Weekly; twice a week at some addresses
Recycling Blue City cart, 64 gallons, or your own can under 32 gallons with a 311 recycling sticker Weekly, on the trash day
Food waste Green bin from Garbage to Garden, in two zones Every other week from October 5, 2026
Leaf and yard waste No cart; large paper bags or an open barrel with a City Yard Waste sticker Scheduled weeks, April to December
Mattresses and special items No cart; booked appointment By appointment
  • Set-out window. Containers go to the curb after 5 p.m. the evening before and by 6 a.m. on collection day. Crews do not collect from private property.
  • Trash containers. Residents buy and replace their own barrels. All trash must fit inside with the lid on. Bags must be 2-ply or 0.9 millimeter plastic or heavier; kitchen bags, grocery bags and cardboard boxes do not count.
  • Blue barrels are for recycling only. A City recycling barrel used for trash or yard waste can be ticketed, skipped or removed.
  • Buildings of seven or more units. Owners buy trash receptacles from 64 gallons to 2 cubic yards (2 cubic yards for buildings over 12 units) and blue 64- to 96-gallon recycling carts. Receptacles over 2 cubic yards need a private hauler, and the City recommends at least two collections a week for large buildings.
  • Not collected: construction debris, automotive parts, plumbing fixtures, fences, water heaters and fire debris. Hire a private hauler.

Your pickup day. Enter your street number and name (no unit or ZIP code) on the city’s Waste Collection Schedule and Search ↗, or set reminders in the Trash Day app. If you have two trash days, yard waste and Christmas trees go out on the first one.

What goes in the Boston recycling cart

Boston recycling is single-stream: everything goes loose in one blue bin, clean and dry, though it does not have to be perfect. Check single items with the Waste Sorting Tool in the Trash Day app.

  • Yes:
    • shipping boxes, cereal boxes, egg cartons, paper towel and toilet paper rolls
    • office paper, newspaper, paper bags, magazines and junk mail; staples and envelope windows are fine
    • plastic drink bottles, milk jugs, yogurt cups, tubs and lids, and shampoo bottles, caps back on
    • soda, beer, soup and vegetable cans
    • clean foil, balled up
    • beer and other beverage bottles and glass jars
  • No:
    • plastic shopping bags and black or white trash bags
    • recyclables bagged in plastic
    • Styrofoam
    • black plastic containers
    • anything under 2 by 2 inches, such as straws and plastic cutlery
    • cords, ropes, hoses, clothes hangers and VHS tapes
    • scrap metal such as pots, pans, pipes and car parts
    • clothes and textiles
    • electronics
    • batteries
    • food waste and liquids
    • Pyrex, ceramics and window glass

Cardboard that does not fit in the bin is flattened, bundled with string and set next to it, no longer than 3 feet; never use a box as a bin. Heavy-duty clear plastic bags are allowed only where there is no room for a cart, and only in neighborhoods the city lists, among them Back Bay/Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Charlestown, Fenway, Mission Hill, the North End, the South End and the West End.

Yard waste and food scraps

Leaf and yard waste goes out on your trash day (the first one, if you have two) during the scheduled weeks of the city’s 2026 Leaf and Yard Waste Calendar ↗, April to December; nothing is collected curbside in other weeks, and the Trash Day app shows your dates. There is no yard waste service for buildings over six units.

  • Use large paper bags or an open barrel labeled YARD WASTE with a City sticker from 311, out by 6 a.m.
  • Tie branches with string, up to 3 feet long and 1 inch thick; bamboo is accepted cut to the same length.
  • Refused: plastic bags, contractor or landscape barrels, collapsible containers, City recycling bins, dirt, mulch and invasive plants (trash those).

Christmas trees go out on your trash day in the two weeks after Christmas, by 6 a.m., with no lights, ornaments or plastic bag. No yard waste is collected in those two weeks.

Free curbside food waste collection, run with Garbage to Garden for buildings of six units or fewer, moves to every other week on October 5, 2026, in two zones; the Trash Day app shows your week. Garbage to Garden starts clearing the waitlist in October and offers weekly pickup for $5.50. Bins take all food, including meat, bones and dairy, in brown paper or certified compostable liners, never plastic. Anyone can use the 20 Project Oscar food waste bins, open 24 hours with lock code 2-1-4, such as 1 City Hall Square and the South End Branch Library at 685 Tremont Street.

Bulk trash pickup in Boston

Furniture and bikes go out with regular trash on your collection day. Mattresses and special items are collected only by appointment, up to 10 a year, for buildings of six units or fewer.

  • Accepted by appointment:
    • mattresses and box springs, including memory foam, innerspring, hybrid and latex
    • refrigerators and freezers, doors removed and food emptied
    • water coolers and ice makers
    • air conditioners and dehumidifiers
    • TVs, laptops and computer monitors, unboxed
  • Refused:
    • futons and mattress toppers (they go in regular trash)
    • construction material
    • water heaters, plumbing fixtures and dishwashers
    • large exercise equipment
    • commercial-grade items

Booking and set-out work like this:

  1. Book online on the Mattress Recycling page ↗ or the Special Collection Items page ↗, or through 311. Special items are capped at 5 per appointment.
  2. Set items where trash goes, after 5 p.m. the night before or by 6 a.m. on the appointment day, not blocked by cars or other bins. Bag and seal soiled or bed-bug mattresses, and never cut or crush them.
  3. Cancel before noon the day before. A missed appointment must be reported to 311 within 24 hours, or it has to be rebooked.

Massachusetts bans mattresses, items with Freon and old CRT screens from the trash, so none of them goes out with regular pickup. Clothing and textiles are banned too: book a free curbside textile pickup, use a pink-sticker drop box, or bring them to a Zero Waste Day.

Boston holiday trash schedule

On most City of Boston holidays, trash and recycling pickups are delayed in some neighborhoods during the holiday week; the city does not publish one rule for every street, so check your address in the Trash Day app. Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day keep the normal schedule.

Holiday Date Collection change
Indigenous Peoples Day Monday, October 12, 2026 Delayed in some neighborhoods during the holiday week
Veterans Day Wednesday, November 11, 2026 Delayed in some neighborhoods during the holiday week
Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 26, 2026 Delayed in some neighborhoods during the holiday week
Christmas Day Friday, December 25, 2026 Delayed in some neighborhoods during the holiday week; Christmas tree collection follows in the next two weeks

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Boston takes household hazardous waste only at Zero Waste Days, free for Boston residents with a photo ID, utility bill or lease, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. No business waste. Paint, motor oil, gasoline and chemicals are capped at 20 gallons, in labeled containers of 5 gallons or less. The 2026 season’s last Zero Waste Day was September 26; the city posts the next dates on its Zero Waste Days page ↗.

  • Zero Waste Day Drop-Off, Central Public Works Facility, 400 Frontage Road, Boston, MA 02118, and the West Roxbury Public Works yard at 315 Gardner Street, MA 02132, on the dates the city posts.
  • Accepted:
    • oil-based paint, pesticides, pool chemicals and other chemicals
    • aerosol cans and propane tanks, empty or full
    • motor oil and old gasoline
    • lithium-ion, rechargeable, lithium primary and car batteries
    • electronics such as computers, TVs, printers and microwaves
    • fluorescent light bulbs, thermometers, thermostats and other mercury items
    • car and bike tires, 8 at most per person
    • fire extinguishers
    • textiles and shoes
    • up to 10 boxes of papers to shred
  • Refused:
    • asbestos
    • explosives
    • radioactive material
    • commercial or industrial waste
    • construction debris
    • alkaline batteries
    • medical waste

Alkaline AA, AAA, C, D and 9V batteries go in the trash. The city’s recycling page puts button batteries in the trash too, while its Zero Waste Day page lists button and coin cells among the batteries to bring in. Tape the terminals of rechargeable and lithium batteries and take them to a retailer or a Zero Waste Day. Latex and acrylic paint can be dried out and trashed.

Fees and billing

The City lists its trash and recycling collection, recycling cart, yard waste, mattress, special item and textile pickup, Zero Waste Days and curbside food waste collection among the free services of Public Works. Residents pay for their own trash barrels, a private hauler for refused items, any fines, and Garbage to Garden’s $5.50 weekly upgrade if they want weekly food waste pickup.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

  1. Check the Trash Day app for a holiday or weather delay on your street.
  2. Make sure your containers were out by 6 a.m. and met the container rules.
  3. Report the missed pickup to Boston 311 in the BOS:311 app, online, at 311@boston.gov, or at 311 or 617-635-4500. A missed mattress or special item appointment must be reported within 24 hours.

Buildings of six units or fewer can request a free blue recycling cart through 311 or the Recycling page ↗, one new cart per calendar year. For a swap, leave the old cart where trash goes by 6 a.m. on the appointment day or after 5 p.m. the night before, and cancel by noon the day before. Recycling and yard waste stickers also come through 311.

Set-out rules and fines

The City’s Code Enforcement team enforces state and city sanitary codes on foot, bike and car. The City’s Trash and Recycling page lists:

  • Early set-out, before 5 p.m. the night before: $25.
  • Broken container: $25.
  • Improper storage, trash not in a lidded barrel or proper bag: $25.
  • Overfilled barrel or dumpster: $100.
  • Illegal dumping on vacant lots, public property or parks: $100 to $10,000.

The Code Enforcement page gives some different amounts: $50 for an overfilled residential barrel, $1,000 for illegal dumping with possible impoundment of the vehicle, $300 for more than 1 cubic yard of garbage scattered in a yard, and $50 (16 units or fewer) or $100 (larger) for a sidewalk next to your property not kept clear. Pay within three weeks or a $10 late fee applies; after 30 days a final notice adds $10, and unpaid fines can go on the property tax bill. To contest, appeal online or request a hearing within three weeks without paying first. Code Enforcement: 617-635-4885.

Materials with their own rules

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