Minneapolis Garbage Pickup Schedule & Recycling Rules, Minnesota

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Minneapolis garbage pickup: collection days, recycling and bulk waste rules.

The Minneapolis garbage pickup schedule is set by the city’s Solid Waste & Recycling division for homes and buildings of up to four units. Garbage and organics go weekly on the same trash day, recycling every other week. Your day depends on your address; the city’s collection day lookup shows your dates and your ABE or CD recycling week. What trips people up: carts must be at the alley or curb line by 6 a.m., or they wait a week.

• Who collects: Minneapolis Solid Waste, the Solid Waste & Recycling division of Public Works, for homes and buildings of up to four units; city crews serve half of the customers and the contractor Minneapolis Refuse Inc. the other half
• Your pickup day: depends on your address; the city’s Collection day lookup ↗ shows your next dates and your ABE or CD recycling week
• Holiday changes: pickup runs one day late when your day falls on or after a major weekday holiday; 2026 holiday schedule ↗
• Missed pickup: call Solid Waste & Recycling the next business day, and no later than two business days; Missed pickup ↗
• Contact: Solid Waste & Recycling 612-673-2917, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., SWRcustomer@minneapolismn.gov; other city questions 311 (612-673-3000)
• Official website: City of Minneapolis: Garbage, recycling and cleanup ↗

Photo: Downtown Minneapolis skyline. AlexiusHoratius, 2012-05-16. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the Minneapolis pickup schedule works

The City sets your day and pickup location; neither can be changed. Crews come any time from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Carts go to your collection point at the alley or curb line by 6 a.m., never past your property line, with the recycling cart next to the garbage cart.
• Weight limits: 200 pounds for large carts, 150 pounds for small garbage and medium recycling carts.
• Bag all garbage and close the lid. Now and then two extra bags or boxes, each under 40 pounds, may sit beside the cart, but never in a personal container, which may be thrown away.
• Curbside carts come back from the curb by 7 a.m. the next day and cannot be stored in front-yard areas visible from the curb line.

City ordinance requires Solid Waste & Recycling to serve every residence with four or fewer units; carts marked “Property of the City of Minneapolis” mean City service. Buildings of five or more units and businesses hire any licensed hauler, including the City.

What goes in the Minneapolis recycling cart

Recycling goes in the blue cart loose: empty any bags into the cart. Paper bags can go in, plastic bags cannot. Keep containers in their 3-D shape and flatten boxes. The city’s Disposal guide ↗ looks up single items.

• Yes: mail, office paper, magazines, newspapers, books, paper bags; flattened cardboard up to 3 by 3 feet, cereal and cracker boxes; plastic bottles, jugs, cups and containers marked #1, #2 or #5, caps on; glass bottles and jars; food and beverage cans, foil and pie tins; milk, juice, soup and wine cartons; chip cans; empty non-hazardous spray cans.
• No: #3, #4, #6 and #7 plastics, black plastic, plastic bags and film, squeeze tubes, foam, plastic insulated packaging; shredded paper, paper towels, paper cups and plates, egg cartons, freezer boxes, ice cream tubs, thermal receipts; drinking glasses, window glass, mirrors, ceramics; pots and pans, hangers, cords, holiday lights, hoses; propane cylinders; clothes, light bulbs, paint cans, needles, electronics and batteries.
• Extra: set cardboard bundles tied with string (no tape) and extra recycling in paper bags or boxes beside the cart, each under 40 pounds and 3 by 3 feet. Extra recycling carts are free, even for renters.
• Pizza boxes: remove the plastic stand; a box with a little grease goes in recycling, a greasy one in organics. See pizza boxes.

Plastic bags, other non-recyclables, overflow or badly prepared cardboard earn a white tag; after a second tag, the City may take the cart away.

Yard waste and food scraps

Organics recycling is free for City customers: sign up online, by phone or by email, and the City delivers a green cart. Bag organics in BPI-certified compostable bags or paper grocery bags; delivery pizza boxes and paper egg cartons can go in unbagged.

• Yes: all food scraps, including meat, bones and dairy; napkins and paper towels; BPI-certified plates, cups and takeout containers; coffee grounds, tissues.
• No: yard waste, diapers, pet waste, wipes, foam, products labeled “biodegradable,” shredded paper and recyclables.

Residents without City service, such as renters in larger buildings, can sign up for free, locked organics drop-off carts ↗, mostly in city parks. The carts outside the South Transfer Station need no sign-up but open only during station hours.

Yard waste goes weekly on your garbage day during the season, included in the base fee. The 2026 season began the week of April 6; the last pickup is on your day the week of November 30 to December 4.

• Set it out by 6 a.m. in a reusable 32 to 38-gallon container with handles, in kraft paper or BPI-certified compostable bags, or in bundles tied with string, each under 40 pounds.
• Never in a City cart. Minnesota law bans yard waste from the garbage and ordinary plastic bags for yard waste.
• Yes: leaves, grass, garden plants, prunings, pine needles, and branches and brush under 3 feet long and 3 inches thick. No: larger branches, stumps, dirt, sod and sawdust.

Christmas trees go with the garbage and are burned for energy: remove all lights and decorations and set the tree next to your garbage cart, cut in half if it is 6 feet or taller.

Bulk trash pickup in Minneapolis

As part of garbage service, crews take up to two large items a week. Put them out by 6 a.m. with a note on each that says “For Solid Waste”; unmarked items may be left.

• Garbage day: wood or upholstered furniture, couches under 6 feet long, plastic items and household goods. Do not take furniture apart, or crews may tag it as building materials. Carpet goes in rolls under 5 feet long, 12 inches across and 40 pounds, tied with rope, twine or tape.
• Recycling week: appliances (refrigerator and freezer doors removed), air conditioners, washers and dryers; TVs, computers and monitors; hide-a-beds and recliners; mattresses and box springs, kept dry (waterlogged or frozen ones are left); metal items such as chairs, filing cabinets, swing sets, and pipes and poles under 6 feet without concrete. Crews add a “We’ll be back” sticker and return the next business day.
• Never collected: building materials, tires, auto parts, dirt, concrete, liquids, hazardous waste and rechargeable batteries.

For a move-out, a special cleanup costs $181 an hour with a $100 minimum; the bill payer applies at least five days ahead.

City garbage customers also get six cleanup vouchers and two tire vouchers a year for the South Transfer Station, free within the limits. A cleanup voucher covers one trip with up to 2,000 pounds of garbage and building debris plus two large recyclable items; a tire voucher covers eight tires. The utility bill payer calls to request one before going.

Water customers without City garbage service can buy a pay-per-use pass ($40 minimum, $117.86 a ton for garbage loads).

Minneapolis holiday trash schedule

When a major holiday falls on a weekday, pickup on and after the holiday is delayed one day; a weekend holiday changes nothing. The lookup tool shows the shifted dates, and reminder emails flag each delay.

The Hennepin County drop-off facilities close on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

The City does not collect household hazardous waste such as motor oil, paint, chemicals, fluorescent bulbs and pressurized tanks. Hennepin County takes it free at two drop-off facilities and at Friday and Saturday collection events held during the year, posted on its events page ↗. Bring products sealed, upright and labeled, in containers of 5 gallons or less.

• Hennepin County Bloomington Drop-off Facility, 1400 West 96th Street, Bloomington, MN 55431. Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For Hennepin County households with proof of residency, such as a driver’s license or utility bill. Free: hazardous waste, paint, aerosols, batteries of all types, electronics (five of a kind a year), needles, cords and lights, recycling, and organics in BPI bags. Paid: tires $5, TVs, monitors and laptops $10, large appliances $15 each.
• Hennepin County Brooklyn Park Transfer Station, 8100 Jefferson Highway, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445. Same hours, rules and materials, plus mattresses and box springs at $25 each, taken only here.
• South Transfer Station (City of Minneapolis), 2850 20th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55407. Tuesday to Friday 12:30 to 7:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; last loads 15 minutes before closing. City garbage or water customers only, with a voucher or pass requested by phone in advance and a state ID; you unload yourself. Takes garbage, furniture, appliances, electronics, mattresses, scrap metal, building materials and tires; refuses hazardous materials, paint, dirt, liquids and yard waste. Fees go on the utility bill; no cash, checks or cards.

Leftover paint also goes to PaintCare retail drop-offs; empty cans and dried latex paint go in the garbage with the lid off. Alkaline batteries may go in the garbage, but lithium-ion and other rechargeable batteries are banned from every cart as a fire hazard: tape the terminals or bag each one.

Fees and billing

Solid Waste & Recycling charges appear on the monthly City of Minneapolis utility bill, and putting the utility bill in your name starts service. The base fee covers collection, processing of everything but garbage, and the transfer station vouchers.

State and county solid waste taxes apply to $19.37 of the base fee and to all garbage cart fees. A second cart size change within six months costs $15. If your garbage keeps overflowing, the City delivers another cart and bills $5.69 a month.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

Call Solid Waste & Recycling at 612-673-2917 the business day after your pickup day. After two business days the crew may not come back, and an email may arrive too late. If your cart was not out on time, it waits until the next week; if the crew missed it, the City can send a truck back.

Damaged or missing carts are repaired or replaced free; each has a serial number tied to an address, so look in the alley first. The utility bill payer requests garbage cart changes. A recycling or organics cart taken for contamination comes back free after three months or for $15 sooner; a recycling cart also comes back free after the city’s online recycling class and quiz.

Set-out rules and fines

Crews leave a tag first; then fees go on the utility bill.

• Carts left at the curb after 7 a.m. the day after collection: $12 per cart.
• Snow: within 24 hours after 2 inches or more, shovel a 3-foot path from each cart to the alley or curb, or crews shovel for $30 per cart.
• Keep litter clear along the property line and 20 feet back from the alley or street. After a blue tag’s deadline, the City cleans up for $181 an hour with a $100 minimum, then $200, $300 and $400 minimums for later cleanups that year.
• With a public alley, your street number must be visible from the back; if crews cannot see it, the City installs numbers for $18.

Materials with their own rules

• Paint: Hennepin County facilities or PaintCare stores; never at the South Transfer Station.
• Lithium-ion batteries: banned from all carts; free at both county facilities.
• Vapes and e-cigarettes: battery out first where it comes out; sealed vapes to either county facility.
• Household hazardous waste: free at the Bloomington and Brooklyn Park facilities.
• Mattresses: at the curb on recycling week, kept dry, or $25 at Brooklyn Park.
• Pizza boxes: lightly greasy in recycling, greasy in organics.
• Christmas trees: next to the garbage cart, cut in half at 6 feet or taller.
• Tires: not collected; two tire vouchers a year for the South Transfer Station.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: empty non-hazardous spray cans in recycling; propane tanks back to the retailer, 1-pound cylinders to a county facility.

More in Minnesota

• Minnesota trash and recycling rules
• Saint Paul trash pickup
• Holiday changes by city
• Bulk pickup rules by city
• Missed pickup contacts by city
• Drop-off locations by city