States & Cities › New York › New York City

NYC trash pickup schedule: collection days, recycling, compost and bulk-waste rules.

NYC trash pickup is free curbside service from the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). Trash goes two or three times a week; recycling and compost go weekly, on the same recycling day. Enter your address in DSNY’s Collection Schedule lookup to see your days. What trips people up most: since September 8, 2026, trash from buildings of one to nine units must go out in an official NYC Bin, or the owner is fined.

Manhattan skyline in New York City

Photo: Manhattan skyline in New York City. Sujit kumar, 2007-11-30. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the NYC trash pickup schedule works

DSNY collects from most residential buildings in the five boroughs. The Collection Schedule lookup ↗ gives your days by address, and compost always goes on the recycling day.

Stream How it goes out How often
Trash Official NYC Bin (1 to 9 units); lidded bin or bags (10+ units) Two or three times a week
Metal, glass, plastic and cartons Labeled bin of 55 gallons or less with a secure lid, or clear plastic bags Weekly, recycling day
Mixed paper and cardboard Labeled bin or clear bags; cardboard flattened and tied Weekly, recycling day
Compost Labeled bin of 55 gallons or less with a secure lid, or a DSNY brown bin Weekly, recycling day
Large items At the curb, up to six a collection day Trash-only or recycling day
  • Bins with secure lids go out after 6 p.m. the evening before; bags on the curb after 8 p.m.; bundled cardboard and large items between 6 p.m. and midnight. Everything must be out by midnight.
  • Bring bins in by 9 p.m. if pickup comes before 4 p.m., or by 9 a.m. the next day if later, and store them off the sidewalk or within three feet of the building.
  • Buildings of 9 or more units with janitorial staff can apply each January for a 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. set-out on collection day instead.

NYC Bin and Empire Bin rules by building size

NYC’s container rule now depends on the number of residential units. The DSNY residential containerization guide ↗ and Empire Bin FAQ ↗ give the current split:

Building Trash container required What the owner or manager should do
1 to 9 residential units Official NYC Bins Buy enough official bins to hold all trash with the lids closed. Full enforcement began September 8, 2026
10 to 30 units Official NYC Bins or Empire Bins as each district converts Follow the district rollout notice. A building that does not receive Empire Bins must use official NYC Bins
31 or more units Empire Bins as the program reaches the district Use only the locked on-street bins assigned to the building; building staff use access cards

For smaller buildings, the official trash bins hold 25, 35 or 45 gallons. DSNY recommends the 45-gallon size for multi-unit properties, 35 gallons for a small single-family home and 25 gallons where storage is tight; the NYC Bin FAQ ↗ says the owner or manager remains responsible for providing enough capacity. Official bins are required for trash, not for recycling or compost.

Empire Bins are not public drop-off points. Only staff for the assigned building and DSNY can unlock them. If a building has more trash than its assigned capacity, staff should file an Empire Bin service request rather than leave bags beside the container. Furniture and other large items still go at the curb on the correct collection day. Keep the loading area clear: DSNY says double parking within four car lengths on either side can block service. Manhattan Community District 9 already uses Empire Bins; Brooklyn Community District 2 is scheduled for fall 2026, followed by additional districts as the city works toward a 2032 rollout.

What goes in the NYC recycling bin

New York City recycling has two streams that never mix. Both go out on your recycling day, in a labeled bin of 55 gallons or less with a secure lid or in clear plastic bags. The number on plastic does not matter, and a cardboard box is never a bin. Check any item in DSNY’s How to Get Rid of lookup ↗.

  • Metal, glass, plastic and cartons: all metal, including foil, caps, metal coffee pods, empty aerosol and paint cans, hangers and pots; glass bottles and jars only; rigid plastic containers, lids, cups, packaging and toys without batteries; milk, soup and juice cartons. Mostly-metal or mostly-plastic furniture and small appliances go too, with cords cut off.
  • Mixed paper and cardboard: newspapers, magazines, white and colored paper, envelopes, wrapping paper, paperbacks, cardboard, shoe and gift boxes, empty dry paper cups and lightly soiled pizza boxes.
  • Trash, not recycling: plastic bags and wrappers, bubble wrap, foam, pouches and squeeze tubes, ice cream tubs, drinking glasses, mirrors, light bulbs, cords and string lights, wood, napkins and paper towels.
  • Never in either stream: non-alkaline batteries, sharps, anything hazardous or flammable, refrigerators and air conditioners, and electronics.

Yard waste and food scraps

Curbside composting covers every NYC address, weekly on the recycling day, and separating it from trash has been mandatory since April 1, 2025.

  • Yes: leaves and yard waste, all food scraps including meat, bones and dairy, greasy uncoated paper plates and pizza boxes, and certified compostable products.
  • No: wrappers, pet waste, diapers, foam, hygiene products, and anything recyclable.
  • Use a labeled bin of 55 gallons or less with a secure lid, or a DSNY brown bin; DSNY no longer hands out free ones. Extra leaves can go in paper lawn bags or clear bags, with branches bundled in twine.
  • Christmas trees go out any week on the compost day, bare and unbagged.
  • Smart Composting Bins take all food scraps around the clock; unlock them with the free NYC Compost app.

Bulk trash pickup in NYC

Large items go free at the curb, up to six per collection day, between 6 p.m. and midnight the evening before. DSNY no longer takes appointments.

  • Mostly metal or rigid plastic items go on the recycling day; everything else, including wood furniture, on the trash-only day.
  • Mattresses, box springs and futons go on the trash-only day sealed in a plastic bag, or they are left behind.
  • Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and water coolers need a free CFC removal appointment ↗ first, online or through 311: never same day, up to 10 items. Take off doors, hinges and locks and set the unit out the evening before, back to the street. DSNY removes the Freon, tags the unit and collects it on your next recycling day. Units with R600a or R32 refrigerant are refused.
  • Debris from your own small renovation counts toward the six items; a contractor’s waste needs a private dumpster. Car tires are illegal in the trash.

NYC holiday trash schedule

DSNY does not collect on most federal holidays and announces each holiday’s changes about a week ahead. The 2026 notices from Presidents’ Day through Labor Day each said no trash, compost or recycling that day, with that day’s material out that evening for collection from the next day. Thanksgiving can differ: in 2025, Thursday recycling waited a full week. Snowstorms can also suspend routes.

Holiday Date Collection change
Italian Heritage Day / Indigenous Peoples’ Day Monday, October 12, 2026 Closed; no trash, compost or recycling collection. Monday material could go out Monday evening for collection beginning Tuesday, October 13; holiday-backlog delays were possible
Election Day Tuesday, November 3, 2026 Sanitation holiday. In 2025: no collection; routes from the next day
Veterans Day Wednesday, November 11, 2026 Sanitation holiday. In 2025: no collection; routes from the next day
Thanksgiving Thursday, November 26, 2026 Sanitation holiday. In 2025: trash and compost the next day, recycling a week later
Christmas Friday, December 25, 2026 Sanitation holiday. In 2025: no collection; routes from the next day

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

DSNY takes household hazardous waste at five Special Waste Drop-Off sites and at SAFE Disposal events, both for NYC residents only; staff may ask for a New York State driver license or utility bill, and businesses and commercial vehicles are turned away.

Special Waste Drop-Off sites open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except legal holidays and severe weather:

  • Bronx, Hunts Point: Farragut Street and the East River, next to the Fulton Fish Market; enter off Food Center Drive.
  • Brooklyn, Greenpoint: 459 North Henry Street; entrance off Kingsland Avenue, north of Greenpoint Avenue.
  • Manhattan, Two Bridges: 74 Pike Slip, between Cherry and South Streets, under the Manhattan Bridge.
  • Queens, College Point: 30th Avenue between 120th and 122nd Streets, at the DSNY Queens District 7 garage.
  • Staten Island, Fresh Kills: off the Muldoon Avenue exit of the southbound West Shore Expressway.
  • They take: aerosols, all batteries, e-waste, vapes, fluorescent bulbs, skin lightening products, and per visit up to 10 quarts of motor oil, 5 gallons of paint, four car tires and two mercury devices.

SAFE Disposal events run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and also take cleaners, pesticides, gasoline, gas cylinders, fire extinguishers, medications and sharps, but no plug-in or CFC appliances. Each borough gets events in spring and fall; DSNY posts the dates and parks on its SAFE Disposal Events page.

Electronics. State law bars setting out TVs, computers, monitors, printers, tablets, phones and game consoles for DSNY, with a $100 fine. Use a drop-off site, a SAFE or community e-waste event, a manufacturer or store take-back or, in buildings of 10 or more units, free ecycleNYC pickup.

Batteries. Alkaline AA through 9-volt batteries may go in the trash. Lithium-ion, other rechargeable, button and car batteries may not; every New York store that sells rechargeables must take them back. Bag each one or cover the ends with clear tape.

Fees and billing

DSNY curbside collection, including large items and CFC removal, is free for residents. Owners buy their own bins, including the required NYC Bin, and DSNY does not replace lost or stolen ones. Businesses pay a licensed private carter.

Missed pickup, damaged bins and new service

  • Report a miss through 311 from 8 a.m. the day after collection. Reports are refused after a holiday or snow suspension, or if material went out wrong, on the wrong day or after midnight.
  • Leave the material at the curb; DSNY collects within five days of the report. Wrong days in the lookup are reported through 311 too.
  • For a stolen bin, file a police report and buy a new one. An address that never had DSNY service can request it.

Set-out rules and fines

DSNY fines the property owner, and fines rise with each violation within 12 months.

Violation 1st 2nd 3rd and later
Trash not in an official NYC Bin (1 to 9 units); overloaded, broken or unlidded bins; waste out at the wrong time or day $50 $100 $200
Recycling in an unlabeled bin or bags that are not clear $50 $100 $200
Compost not separated, 1 to 8 units $25 $50 $100
Compost not separated, 9 or more units $100 $200 $300
Mattress or box spring not sealed in plastic $50 $100 $200

Putting material out the evening before a non-collection day can also bring a ticket.

Materials with their own rules

  • How to dispose of broken glass — packaging sharp fragments and the difference between bottles, mirrors and household glassware.

  • How to recycle plastic bags: never in NYC curbside recycling; use a participating large retailer’s film-plastic take-back bin and follow its posted list.

  • Christmas trees: any week on the compost day, undecorated.

  • Paint: dry small amounts for the trash; leftover paint to a PaintCare site, a Special Waste site or a SAFE event.

  • Lithium-ion batteries: store take-back or a Special Waste site, never the curb.

  • Vapes and e-cigarettes: any of the five Special Waste sites or a SAFE Disposal event, never the trash.

  • Household hazardous waste: chemicals go to SAFE Disposal events.

  • Mattresses: trash-only day, sealed in plastic.

  • Pizza boxes: lightly soiled ones in paper recycling, greasy ones in compost.

  • Tires: four at a Special Waste site, or at a DSNY district garage Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a New York State license and registration showing NYC addresses.

  • Aerosol cans and propane tanks: empty aerosols with metal recycling; propane tanks back to the seller or to a SAFE event.

More in New York