Painesville Trash Pickup Schedule & Recycling Rules

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

The Painesville trash pickup schedule is simple: Major Waste Disposal Services collects trash, recycling and, from April through November, yard waste once a week, all on the same day, for every one-, two- and three-family home under a city contract that began June 29, 2026. Your day did not change with the new hauler. What trips people up: the bill comes from Major Waste, not the city.

• Who collects: Major Waste Disposal Services ↗, the City of Painesville’s contracted hauler since June 29, 2026, for one-, two- and three-family homes; buildings of four or more units hire their own hauler
• Your pickup day: depends on your address and stayed the same after the switch; confirm it with Major Waste at 440-254-4929. Carts out by 6 a.m.
• Holiday changes: no pickup on six holidays; the rest of that week runs one day late; Holiday Schedule ↗
• Missed pickup: Major Waste, 440-254-4929 or info@majorwastedisposal.com
• Official website: City of Painesville: Refuse & Recycling ↗

Photo: North Park Place in downtown Painesville, with the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Lake County Courthouse. Niagara, 2025-09-06. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the Painesville pickup schedule works

Painesville City Ordinance Chapter 955 requires the owner of every one-, two- or three-family dwelling to keep trash service with the city’s contractor and to pay the contractor for it. Only vacant properties registered with the city under Chapter 1375 are exempt. Buildings with four or more units, businesses and institutions provide their own containers and hire their own hauler. City Council moved the service from Republic Services to Major Waste Disposal, a hauler based in Leroy Township, by joining Major Waste’s competitively bid contract with the City of Willoughby Hills; the news story on the switch covers the vote.

• Set-out. Containers go out after 7 p.m. the evening before and before 7 a.m. on collection day, at the street curb or on the tree lawn. Major Waste asks for everything at the curb the night before or by 6 a.m.
• Collection hours. Under the ordinance the truck may come between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., so leave the cart out until it has passed.
• Bring carts in by 7 p.m. on collection day.
• Extra trash. The ordinance also allows 30-gallon cans with tight lids and 30-gallon bags, no heavier than 70 pounds each.
• Carry-out service. Residents who cannot get containers to the curb because of a disability can ask the city for carry-out service, which the contractor provides at no extra cost once the city notifies it in writing.

What goes in the Painesville recycling cart

The recycling cart goes every week on your trash day. Plastics marked No. 1 through No. 7 are accepted now; under Republic Services only No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 were. Major Waste’s three rules: recycle bottles, cans, paper and cardboard; keep food and liquids out; no loose plastic bags and no bagged recyclables.

• Yes:
  • Junk mail
  • Newspaper
  • Magazines
  • Office paper
  • Phone books
  • Cardboard boxes
  • Milk cartons
  • Frozen food boxes
  • Poster board
  • File folders
  • Pizza boxes without leftovers or liners
  • Plastic bottles and jugs numbered 1 to 7, clean, empty, not crushed, lids off
  • Aluminum beverage cans
  • Food cans
  • Glass beverage bottles, clear, green or brown
• No:
  • Wood
  • Wax cartons
  • Paint cans
  • Antifreeze
  • Batteries
  • Light bulbs
  • Motor oil containers, unless rinsed thoroughly
  • Hoses
  • Wire hangers
  • Plastic bags
  • Styrofoam and other polystyrene foam
  • Christmas lights
  • Toys
  • Plastic utensils
  • Plastic wrap and film
  • Plastic furniture
  • Yard waste
  • Diapers
  • Medical waste
  • Garage waste
  • Cups with a wax or plastic coating

Major Waste also warns that the chasing-arrows symbol does not always mean an item is recyclable. The plastic recycling numbers guide explains the codes.

Yard waste and food scraps

Yard waste, which the ordinance defines as grass, leaves and tree and brush trimmings, goes every week in season on your regular day; under Republic Services it ran every other week. Major Waste’s residential yard waste season runs April 1 to November 30, so the last weekly pickups of 2026 fall in the week of November 30. There is no curbside food scrap collection.

• Put yard waste in paper bags, in a can marked YW, or in bundles; branches up to 4 inches thick and 48 inches long, neatly tied.
• Keep it out of the trash cart: Major Waste collects it separately.
• Stumps, logs and other land-clearing residue are unacceptable refuse and are not collected.
• Holiday trees go out on days the city designates under the ordinance’s yard waste section.
• The Lake County Solid Waste Facility takes no yard waste of any kind.

Bulk trash pickup in Painesville

Bulk items are part of the weekly service. Ordinance 955.10 requires the contractor to collect them on the regular collection day, or on a later day the Service Director approves, at no extra charge.

• Bulk items: furniture, mattresses, carpets and appliances that hold no refrigerant.
• Refrigerant items: refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers go on a day the Service Director designates, at no added cost under the ordinance; call Major Waste ahead.
• Schedule ahead. Major Waste asks residents to call or email before the regular pickup for large items.
• House cleanouts: the council’s comparison chart lists excessive bulk, such as a whole-house cleanout, as paid service; Major Waste rents roll-off containers from 10 to 40 yards.
• Never at the curb: tires, automotive parts, construction waste, earth and large rocks, dead animals, hazardous waste and anything not bagged, containerized or bundled.

Self-haul is the alternative: the Lake County Solid Waste Facility charges $5 for a car load up to 330 pounds, $10 for a pickup load up to 660 pounds and $5 for each appliance.

Painesville holiday trash schedule

Major Waste observes New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. There is no trash or recycling pickup on the holiday, and the routes from that day through Friday run one day late, so a Friday route goes on Saturday. A holiday on a Saturday changes nothing. Two holidays are still ahead in 2026; Major Waste posts each year’s dates on its Holiday Schedule page ↗.

Weather can also delay routes; Major Waste posts delays on its home page.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Painesville has no city drop-off site. The Lake County Solid Waste Management District, run by the Lake County Department of Utilities, takes household hazardous waste at the county landfill on Saturdays and holds free roundups at the Lake County Fairgrounds, and city residents can use both.

• Lake County Solid Waste Facility, 2039 Blase Nemeth Road, Painesville Township, OH 44077; Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Saturday for Lake County residents in cars and pickups only). Phone 440-350-2644. Every load must be tarped and every visitor checks in at the scale house window. Car load $5, pickup load $10, weighed Lake County waste $30 a ton; appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators, washers and water heaters $5 each; car and pickup tires without rims, up to 20 inches and six at most, $3 each. It refuses out-of-state waste, demolition debris that is not pre-approved, yard waste and, except on Saturdays from residents, paints, chemicals, batteries and automotive fluids.
• Universal waste, Saturdays only, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., for Lake County residents and not businesses, in original containers: aerosol cans, antifreeze, motor oil and other automotive lubricants, lithium-ion, NiCad and lead-acid batteries, fertilizer and pesticides, fluorescent bulbs and tubes, mercury thermometers, thermostats and switches, oil-based paint and stains, solvents, strippers and thinners, household cleaners and pool chemicals. Refused: propane and acetylene tanks, fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, gasoline, kerosene, ammunition, medical waste, butane torches, latex paint and PCB light fixtures.
• Electronics, free during all landfill hours: computers, tablets, printers, phones, cables, game consoles, stereos and anything else that plugs in or takes batteries, other than a major appliance. TVs and monitors 27 inches or smaller cost $5 each; larger, projection and console TVs $10.
• Mixed recycling bins, free for Lake County residents during business hours: flattened cardboard and paper, cartons, plastic bottles and jugs, glass bottles and jars, all rinsed. Orange Hefty ReNew bags go only in these bins, never in the curbside cart.
• Household hazardous roundups, Lake County Fairgrounds, 1301 Mentor Avenue, Painesville; free, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., twice a year on dates the district posts on its Community Recycling Options page ↗. They take what the Saturday program takes plus empty propane tanks, fire extinguishers, kerosene, roofing tar and unknown chemicals; ammunition, explosives, latex paint, medical waste, prescription medicines and smoke alarms are turned away.

Fees and billing

Painesville residents pay Major Waste directly, not the city. Ordinance 955.14 sets the fee at the rate obtained through bidding, and 955.15 has the contractor bill each one-, two- or three-unit property quarterly in advance. Major Waste mailed billing instructions, with online payment and a customer portal, in early July 2026.

• The base contract runs four years, then year to year for up to five option years at $25.60 to $27.97 a month.
• The rate can change mid-term for government fees and, depending on the market, a fuel surcharge.
• Credit card payments to Major Waste carry a surcharge of up to 3 percent; ACH and debit card payments do not.
• After two unpaid billing periods the property is presumed a public health nuisance, service can be stopped, and the charges go to the Lake County Auditor for collection with property taxes.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

1. Leave the cart at the curb until 5 p.m.; the ordinance lets collection run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2. Call Major Waste at 440-254-4929 or toll-free 800-366-4921, or email info@majorwastedisposal.com; the city sends every service question there.
3. For a damaged cart or an extra cart, use the same contacts; an additional cart costs $5 a month.

The ordinance lets the contractor tag a defective container a week before removing it.

Set-out rules and fines

• Refuse, recyclables, bulk items, refrigerant items and yard waste may sit at the curb only from 7 p.m. the evening before until the end of collection day; at other times they stay behind the rear building line or inside, out of sight from the street.
• Bags stored outside must be secured or in a container so they do not attract animals.
• An unauthorized pile of refuse is a nuisance: if it is not cleared within 24 hours of the Service Director’s notice, the city clears it and bills the owner the cost plus a $250 inspection fee, which goes on the property tax bill if unpaid.
• No one may scatter, pick through or take refuse set out for collection without the owner’s consent.
• Every violation of Chapter 955 is a minor misdemeanor, and each day counts as a separate offense.

Materials with their own rules

• Household hazardous waste: the landfill on Saturdays, or a fairgrounds roundup.
• Paint: oil-based paint and stains to the landfill on Saturdays; latex paint is refused, so dry it out and put it in the trash, as the county’s latex paint sheet says.
• Household batteries and lithium-ion batteries: never in either cart; the landfill takes them on Saturdays.
• Car batteries: lead-acid batteries go to the landfill’s Saturday universal waste program or a retailer.
• Used motor oil and antifreeze: the landfill on Saturdays, in original containers.
• Light bulbs: fluorescent bulbs and tubes to the landfill on Saturdays; never in the recycling cart.
• Old TVs and computers: the landfill’s electronics drop-off, free for computers, $5 or $10 for a TV.
• Microwaves: a bulk item at the curb, or $5 at the landfill.
• Mattresses: a bulk item, collected on your regular day.
• Tires: never at the curb; $3 each at the landfill, up to six, off the rim.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: aerosol cans to the landfill on Saturdays; empty propane tanks only to a fairgrounds roundup.
• Fire extinguishers: only at a fairgrounds roundup, never at the landfill.
• Styrofoam and pizza boxes: foam stays out of the recycling cart; pizza boxes go in only without leftovers or liners.
• Christmas trees: at the curb on days the city designates.

More in Ohio

• Ohio trash and recycling rules
• Columbus trash pickup schedule
• Holiday changes by city
• Bulk pickup rules by city
• Missed pickup contacts by city
• Trash service cost by city
• Drop-off locations by city