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

Joplin trash pickup is done by Republic Services under a city contract. One trash cart goes once a week; the optional recycling cart and the yard waste service go every other week, and yard waste may fall on a different day. Republic’s schedule lookup gives the day for your address. What trips people up most from October 1, 2026: only what fits inside the cart is collected, and bags beside it stay at the curb.

Downtown Joplin, Missouri, looking north from 6th and Main Street

Photo: Downtown Joplin, Missouri, looking north from 6th and Main Street. AbeEzekowitz, 2010-07-29. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.

Joplin trash and recycling pickup schedule

The City of Joplin contracts with Republic Services for curbside trash and recycling at every house and duplex inside the city limits. The contract approved on August 3, 2026 by Council Bill 2026-134 runs from October 1, 2026 through March 31, 2032. Commercial buildings and apartment complexes are not on the city contract; they hire a private hauler, and the Recycling Division keeps a list of local haulers at 417-624-0820 ext. 1501.

Service Cart How often Cost
Trash One Republic Services cart per household Once a week In the $17.42 monthly base rate
Second trash cart A second Republic cart Once a week, with the first $5.50 a month extra
Recycling (optional) One Republic recycling cart Every other week $5.26 a month; an extra recycling cart $5.50
Yard waste (sign-up required) Paper bags and bundles, or a rented 96-gallon yard waste cart Every other week In the base rate; the cart $5.50 a month
Bulky items No cart; scheduled by phone Up to four pickups a year In the base rate
  • Your day comes from Republic’s schedule lookup. Yard waste can run on a different weekday than trash and recycling; Republic tells you the day when you sign up.
  • From October 1, 2026, Republic collects only the trash inside your cart. Bags, boxes and loose items set beside the cart are not picked up.
  • Households that regularly fill more than one cart can add a second trash cart for $5.50 a month, or move recyclables into a recycling cart for $5.26 a month.
  • Extra trash carts left on the property are billed from the November 2026 bill on. Ask Republic to take away any cart you do not want.
  • Yard waste, including grass, leaves, weeds and small limbs, may no longer go in the trash cart. Missouri law bars yard waste from landfills, and the city says mixing it into the cart can bring extra charges on your bill.

Every account change goes through Republic Services: the form at the bottom of its Joplin page ↗, or 800-431-1507 on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

What goes in the Joplin recycling cart

Curbside recycling is an add-on you sign up for with Republic Services. Everything goes in the cart together, no sorting. The list is the city’s own, on its Solid Waste Management & Recycling page and at JoplinRecycles.com.

  • Yes: paper (mail, newspaper, office paper, magazines); cardboard, paper bags, pizza boxes cleaned out with no food, and egg cartons; plastic bottles, jugs, tubs and jars labeled #1 or #2; clean aluminum and steel food and beverage cans, clean foil and pie pans, and empty aerosol cans.
  • No: glass; plastic bags; scrap metal; plastic six-pack holders; needles or syringes; paper juice and milk cartons; plastic microwave trays; frozen food, ice cream and frozen juice containers; tissues, paper towels and napkins; Styrofoam to-go containers and packaging.

Glass is not collected at the curb, but the Joplin Recycling Center at 1310 West A Street takes it with the lids off. Plastic shopping bags go back to the bag bins at Walmart, Target and Harps stores.

Pizza boxes are accepted in the recycling cart only when they are cleaned out with no food left in them.

Yard waste and food scraps

Yard waste has its own curbside service from October 1, 2026, plus two free city drop-off programs and a fall leaf pickup.

  • Curbside yard waste: included in the base rate, but it does not start on its own. Contact Republic Services to add your address to the schedule. Grass clippings, weeds and leaves go in biodegradable bags such as kraft paper; tree limbs and brush are bundled with biodegradable wrapping such as compostable twine. The limit is 10 bags or bundles per pickup, every other week, on the day Republic gives you at sign-up. Hardware stores in town sell the bags.
  • Yard waste cart: if you would rather not use paper bags, rent a 96-gallon yard waste cart from Republic for $5.50 a month. A large sticker tells it apart from a trash cart.
  • Leaves and grass drop-off: free at the city’s Compost Facility at the Turkey Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, 3457 West Eddy Lane, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents only. Empty the bags and take them with you; no limbs or brush. Finished compost is free for Joplin residents to pick up Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; call 417-624-3615 at the gate.
  • Limbs and brush drop-off: free for residents at 1702 North Schifferdecker Avenue on the third Saturday of the month from March to November and the Friday before it, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 2026 dates left are October 16 and 17 and November 20 and 21. Limbs and brush only: no leaves or grass, no treated wood, railroad ties, construction debris, metal, household items, tires or appliances.
  • Fall leaf pickup: city crews vacuum leaves from residential streets each fall, starting the first Monday after Thanksgiving. Rake leaves to the curb, not into the street; the leaf pickup map ↗ shows the order of the crew areas and is updated each business day. Questions: 417-624-0820 ext. 1564.
  • Christmas trees: the Joplin Recycling Center has run a tree drop-off after the holidays in past years; the city announces the dates in its News Flash.

Bulk trash pickup in Joplin

From October 1, 2026, bulky items such as mattresses and anything else that does not fit in the cart are collected only by appointment. Call Republic Services at 800-431-1507 to schedule, or use the form on its Joplin page. Each pickup is limited to 4 cubic yards, and each home gets four pickups a year. There is no extra charge; the cost sits inside the $17.42 base rate.

Two drop-off options take bulky loads all year:

  • GFL Joplin Transfer Station, 3700 W. 7th Street, Joplin, MO 64801. Joplin residents can bring up to 2,000 pounds of bulky items, brush and tree limbs at a reduced rate paid for by a city subsidy. Bring a copy of your sewer bill and your driver’s license. No tires, and no commercial loads. Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday 7:30 a.m. to noon, closed Sunday.
  • Republic Services transfer station, 1715 E. Front Street, Galena, KS, on old Route 66. Joplin residential trash customers may haul bulky items there, but no yard waste, and fees apply. Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., closed for lunch 11:30 a.m. to noon. Call 620-783-5841 first about what it takes, its holidays and its rules.

Joplin holiday trash schedule

When Republic Services observes a holiday, there is no pickup that day. The homes scheduled for that day are collected the next day, and the rest of the week runs one day behind, with Friday’s homes collected on Saturday. The city posts each change in its News Flash ↗ and on its calendar, and Republic’s schedule lookup ↗ shows holiday changes for your address.

In 2026 the city announced that rule for Memorial Day and Labor Day. In past years it has also announced shifts for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, and in 2025 it said the schedule did not change on Juneteenth or July 4. The holidays still ahead:

Holiday Date Rule when Republic observes it
Thanksgiving Thursday, November 26, 2026 No pickup Thursday; Thursday’s homes Friday, Friday’s homes Saturday
Christmas Day Friday, December 25, 2026 No pickup Friday; Friday’s homes Saturday
New Year’s Day Friday, January 1, 2027 No pickup Friday; Friday’s homes Saturday

The city’s own facilities close on city holidays. The Joplin Recycling Center closes on New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday after, and Christmas, and on the Saturday before Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The one-cart rule that starts on October 1, 2026 does not change on holiday weeks: see Joplin trash cart rules take effect October 2026.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Household hazardous waste never goes in the trash cart. Joplin’s answer is one city-run site, the Joplin Recycling Center, which takes household chemicals, batteries, electronics and drop-off recycling from residents of five counties.

  • Joplin Recycling Center, 1310 West A Street, Joplin, MO 64801. Tuesday and Thursday noon to 6 p.m.; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday. Open to residents of Jasper, Newton, McDonald, Barton and Vernon counties with identification; no commercial waste. Most drop-offs are free. TVs and computer monitors cost $10 each, paid on site by check or money order, or in advance at the Finance Department window on the third floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main Street. Phone 417-624-0820 ext. 1501.
  • Hazardous waste it takes: aerosol cans, including spray paint; automotive products; batteries; home maintenance products except latex paint; household cleaners; lawn and garden products; mercury debris; pool and spa supplies; propane tanks, metal cylinders and fire extinguishers. Motor oil, old gasoline and antifreeze must be in a pourable, leak-proof container, 3 gallons at most.
  • Recycling and electronics it takes: cardboard, fiberboard, newspaper, white paper, magazines, phone books and paperback books; #1 and #2 plastics; glass with the lids off; metal, aluminum, brass, copper, steel, tin and nickel; inkjet cartridges; cooking oil; household, rechargeable and car batteries; computers, laptops, tablets, printers, cell phones, monitors, keyboards, home audio equipment, cords and compressors; appliances, electric heaters and coffee makers. Free document shredding for households.
  • It does not take: ammunition and explosives (ask the police); asbestos (mist it, wrap it in plastic and pay a fee at a landfill or transfer station); commercial waste; any single container over 30 gallons; radioactive material; pressure-treated wood and railroad ties (GFL, 417-623-6620, or Jordan Disposal, 417-624-4469).
  • Packing: keep products in their original containers, do not mix them, seal the lids, put leaking containers inside a larger lidded container, stand everything upright in a box and carry it in the trunk or a truck bed.

Things the city routes elsewhere:

  • Latex paint: the center does not take it. Stir in sawdust or cat litter, about 60 percent paint to 40 percent absorbent, let it dry, leave the lid off and put it in the trash.
  • Fluorescent bulbs: wrap them in tape and set them out with the trash.
  • Medicines: free drop boxes at the Joplin, Carthage, Webb City, Carl Junction and Lamar police stations, the Newton and McDonald county sheriffs’ offices and the Jasper County Courthouse in Joplin.
  • Needles and syringes: put them in a plastic detergent bottle with bleach water, tape the lid shut, write “sharps” on it and put it in the trash. The city also lists Republic Services’ sharps program as a partner for needles.

Fees and billing

The City of Joplin bills trash service on the city utility bill with sewer charges and keeps a 55-cent administrative fee per billing cycle; Republic Services gets the rest. The rates below were adopted on August 3, 2026 in Council Bill 2026-134 and start with the October 2026 bill. They are frozen until April 1, 2028 and then rise 5 percent a year.

Service Monthly charge
Base service: one trash cart weekly, yard waste every other week after sign-up, four bulky pickups a year, and the city’s 55-cent administrative fee $17.42 ($16.87 plus $0.55)
Second trash cart $5.50
Optional recycling, one cart, every other week $5.26
Extra recycling cart $5.50
Rented 96-gallon yard waste cart $5.50

A household with the base service and recycling pays $22.68 a month; one with a second trash cart and no recycling pays $22.92. Before October 2026 the rate was $12.84 for trash plus the 55-cent fee, and recycling was $4.87. Questions about the bill go to the city at 417-624-0820 ext. 1255 or 417-627-2955.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

Republic Services handles missed pickups, cart deliveries, cart removals and every other account change: 800-431-1507, Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or the customer service form at the bottom of its Joplin page ↗. If a problem with residential service persists after you have raised it with Republic, call the city’s Recycling Division at 417-624-0820 ext. 1501. Complaints about a commercial or apartment hauler go to that hauler first, then to the same city number.

Before the November 2026 bill, ask Republic to remove any trash cart you do not need; from that bill on, every extra cart on the property is charged.

Set-out rules and fines

  • All trash must be inside the Republic Services cart. From October 1, 2026, nothing outside the cart is collected.
  • No yard waste in the trash cart: grass, leaves, weeds and limbs go to the yard waste service, the Compost Facility or the limb drop-off. The city warns that ignoring the yard waste rules can add charges to your bill.
  • Yard waste set-outs are limited to 10 paper bags or twine-tied bundles per pickup, or a rented yard waste cart.
  • Bulky items go out only for a pickup you have scheduled with Republic, up to 4 cubic yards.
  • Set the cart out the night before when Republic announces early routes; in the summer of 2026 its trucks began at 5 a.m.
  • Trash, tall grass and other property nuisances are reported to the Code Enforcement Officer at 417-624-0820 ext. 518.

Materials with their own rules

  • Household hazardous waste: the Joplin Recycling Center, 1310 West A Street, free for residents of five counties.
  • Paint: latex paint is dried with cat litter or sawdust and goes in the trash; spray paint cans go to the Recycling Center.
  • Lithium-ion batteries: rechargeable batteries go to the Recycling Center, never in a cart.
  • Mattresses: a scheduled bulky pickup, or the GFL Joplin Transfer Station at the resident rate.
  • Pizza boxes: the recycling cart, cleaned out with no food.
  • Christmas trees: the Recycling Center’s after-holiday drop-off, announced each year.
  • Tires: not under the GFL subsidy and not at the limb site; the Recycling Center holds free tire drop-off events announced in the News Flash.
  • Aerosol cans and propane tanks: empty aerosol cans go in the recycling cart; cans with product left and propane tanks go to the Recycling Center.

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