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

The Knoxville trash pickup schedule is set by the City of Knoxville, and its contractor Waste Connections runs the routes. The dark grey 95-gallon garbage cart goes once a week and the free recycling cart every other week, on the A or B week. Your weekday comes from the city’s Service Day search. What trips people up: overflow bags are never collected, and a cart with its lid propped open is skipped.

The Gay Street Bridge over the Tennessee River in Knoxville, with the downtown skyline and the Sunsphere behind it

Photo: The Gay Street Bridge over the Tennessee River in Knoxville, with the downtown skyline and the Sunsphere behind it. Brian Stansberry, 2010-04-17. CC BY 3.0 · Source. Resized for web.

How the Knoxville pickup schedule works

The city serves single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes and quad-plexes on a single parcel inside the city limits. City taxes pay for it, so there is no account to open and no monthly bill: a grey city cart at the curb by 7 a.m. is all it takes. Parcels with five or more units manage their own waste through a private hauler, a Knox County convenience center or the city’s transfer station.

Cart Color and size How often
Garbage Dark grey, 95 gallons, city-issued Weekly
Recycling Brown or tan, 95 gallons, free after sign-up Every other week, A or B week
Second garbage cart Orange and blue, rented from Waste Connections Weekly, with the grey cart
Bulky items No cart; at the curb after a 311 bulky alert Up to five items a week
Brush No cart; at the street Every other week, March through October
Leaves No cart; loose rows at the street edge November through February
  • Set-out. Carts go out by 7 a.m. on your service day, or the night before after 6 p.m. Pickup times change without notice. Bring the empty cart in by 9 p.m.
  • Placement. Within one foot of the curb or the white road-edge line (one foot from the asphalt in an alley), wheels toward your home, lid opening toward the street, at least 3 feet from vehicles, poles, mailboxes and other carts. Where cars park on the street, set the cart in the street between them.
  • Lids and bags. Bag garbage inside the cart and close the lid completely. Bags on top fall out when the arm lifts the cart. Do not jam foam or cardboard down into it.
  • Moving. Each cart’s serial number belongs to its address, so leave it behind. If a home has no cart, report it stolen to the police non-emergency line at 865-215-7000, then call 311 with the report number for a free replacement.
  • Backdoor service. Free pickup beside the house for households where every resident is 75 or older or has a medical need; apply through 311 with a copy of a driver’s license or a doctor’s signature. Waste Connections no longer sells paid backdoor service. Bulky items still go to the curb.
  • Downtown. Downtown residents are collected by City of Knoxville Public Service crews, not Waste Connections; see Downtown Waste Services ↗.

Your pickup day. Type your street address into the Service Day and Disposal search ↗. The Calendar button gives your garbage and recycling dates and can set a reminder; the What Goes Where button tells you where a single item belongs. Starting Monday, October 5, 2026, Waste Connections moves about 19,000 households to a new every-other-week recycling day and 2,800 to a new weekly garbage day, so more homes put both carts out on one weekday. Affected customers got a mailed notice and a Waste Connect app alert; backdoor and downtown customers do not change. The story Knoxville trash pickup day change starts October 5, 2026 has the details.

What goes in the Knoxville recycling cart

Curbside recycling is free for the same homes that get garbage service, but a household signs up online or by calling 311. Each enrolled home gets one 95-gallon cart, emptied every other week on the A or B week shown in the 2026 Recycling Schedule ↗. Everything goes in loose, clean and dry, never bagged, and is sorted at the WestRock facility near downtown.

  • Yes:
    • plastic bottles, cups, jugs and containers numbered 1 or 2, caps attached
    • aluminum, steel and tin cans and lids
    • milk, juice and ice cream cartons
    • paper plates, cups and bowls
    • junk mail, magazines and office paper
    • soft-cover books
    • paperboard such as cereal boxes and paper towel tubes
    • paper bags, envelopes and folders
    • shredded paper sealed in a paper bag or envelope
    • newspaper with inserts
    • flattened cardboard
  • No:
    • glass of any kind
    • plastic bags and film
    • Styrofoam
    • aluminum foil and foil pans
    • chip and candy wrappers with silver linings
    • aerosol and paint cans
    • pet food bags
    • cords, hoses, holiday lights and other tanglers
    • light bulbs
    • window glass, drinking glasses and pottery
    • containers that held pesticides, motor oil or antifreeze
    • receipts
    • scrap metal
    • sharps and medical waste

Overflow recycling is collected, unlike overflow trash: put it in paper bags, boxes or a container marked “recycling.” The driver has to fit it back into the cart, so break boxes down; a box too big for the cart goes to a drop-off center. Heavy loads of books or magazines can be too much for the automated arm. Glass goes only to the four city recycling drop-off centers or the University of Tennessee’s recycling center.

Yard waste and food scraps

The city has no food-scrap cart. Yard waste is a Public Service Department program with two seasons, scheduled by address rather than by cart day.

  • Brush, March through October: crews run each route every two weeks on a week-of schedule. Set brush out on its own, never mixed with trash. Find your week on the Brush Collection Schedule ↗ or call 311.
  • Leaves, November through February: brush pickup stops and crews vacuum loose leaves. Rake them into rows at the edge of the street without blocking sidewalks; leaves raked to an alley are collected last. Do not bag them, because plastic spoils the mulch. Bagged leaves are collected only if they fit inside your garbage cart. Check the Leaf Collection Schedule ↗.
  • Open burning is prohibited inside the city limits. The transfer station does not take yard waste.

Bulk trash pickup in Knoxville

Bulky waste is furniture, appliances, tires off the rim, old personal trash cans and other household items too big for an empty garbage cart. Extra bags of garbage are not bulky waste.

  1. Call 311 to place a “bulky alert” before you set anything out.
  2. Set up to five items at the curb where your garbage cart goes, even with backdoor service. On a cart day, leave 3 feet between the items and the cart.
  3. Allow up to two business days for the bulky truck. If items that met the rules are still there after that, report it to 311, online or in the My Knoxville app.

More than five items at once means none are collected and can bring a Codes Enforcement violation. These are not taken as bulky waste:

  • Refused:
    • construction and renovation debris such as doors, windows, toilets, cabinets, flooring and lumber
    • cardboard boxes
    • pianos, exercise machines and basketball goals with bases
    • auto parts other than tires off the rim
    • anything over 6 feet long or too heavy for two workers
    • brush mixed with trash
    • refrigerators and freezers not drained and tagged by certified personnel
    • mowers, heaters and gas grills with fuel, oil or propane inside
    • carpet not rolled, tied and cut to 6 feet

Construction debris and undrained refrigerant appliances go to the transfer station, where staff drain appliances for a fee.

Knoxville holiday trash schedule

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two days a year without curbside garbage and recycling in Knoxville. After each, collection runs one day late through Saturday, and the following Monday returns to normal. The Solid Waste Facility follows its own 2026 calendar ↗, and the Knox County convenience centers close on county holidays.

Holiday Date Collection change
Veterans Day Wednesday, November 11, 2026 None; regular pickup. Knox County convenience centers closed, as every Wednesday
Thanksgiving Thursday, November 26, 2026 Closed; Thursday and Friday collection one day late, on Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28
Christmas Eve Thursday, December 24, 2026 None; regular pickup. Convenience centers close at 1 p.m.
Christmas Friday, December 25, 2026 Closed; Friday collection one day late, on Saturday, December 26
New Year’s Day Friday, January 1, 2027 None; regular pickup. Convenience centers closed

The October 5, 2026 route change is not a holiday delay: it moves some households to a new weekday for good. Check your address before Thanksgiving week if your day moved.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Household hazardous waste never goes in a cart or at the curb. The city runs one permanent facility for it beside its transfer station, plus four recycling drop-off centers, and Knox County’s seven convenience centers are free for county residents, city residents included. Each site’s record in drop-off locations has its full accepted list.

  • Knoxville Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 1033 Elm Street, Knoxville, TN 37921, off the I-275 Baxter exit. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 7 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., Wednesday 7 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., closed Sunday; 865-215-6710. Free for residents; businesses, nonprofits and churches contract privately. Daily limits: 20 gallons of oil-based paint, 10 gallons of other liquids, 100 pounds in all, no container over 5 gallons. Takes oil-based paint, solvents, fuel, motor oil and antifreeze, lead-acid, lithium and rechargeable batteries, cleaners, pesticides, pool chemicals, fluorescent tubes and CFLs, mercury thermometers, fire extinguishers, propane cylinders, aerosol cans, cooking grease, vapes and electronics such as computers and phones (three computer systems a visit). Refused: latex paint (dry it and put it in the trash), alkaline batteries, ammunition, light ballasts, medical waste, oxygen tanks, smoke detectors and TVs. TVs, refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners go to the Solid Waste Facility for a fee.
  • Knoxville Transfer Station, 1033 Elm Street, same hours, 865-215-6700. Cards only, no cash and no American Express, $1 minimum. Since September 1, 2026, trash and construction debris cost $85 a ton and loads with shingles $95 a ton; scrap metal and appliances without refrigerant are free, and refrigerant appliances are charged by weight. Loads over 4 tons are refused, every vehicle crosses the scale and unloads within 30 minutes, and staff cannot help unload. Refused: asbestos, asphalt, contaminated soil, dead animals, loose insulation, unbagged Styrofoam, medical waste, railroad ties, wet latex paint, yard waste, more than four mattresses or four tires a day, and more than two wheelbarrows of rock, brick, concrete or dirt. The first Saturday of each month, unless a holiday closes it, is free for city residents with proof of residence: one visit per household, no commercial vehicles, dump trucks, trailers over 2,500 pounds, shingles or brush.
  • Knoxville Recycling Drop-off Centers, open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. since March 1, 2026: North, at the Goodwill store, 5412 Pleasant Ridge Road; South, 225 W. Moody Avenue; East, 210 Alice Street; West, 341 Parkvillage Road. Loose and clean: brown, green and clear glass, plastics 1 and 2, cans, mixed paper, newspaper and flattened cardboard; reusable household goods go to the Goodwill attendant.
  • Knox County Convenience Centers, free for Knox County residents with their own household waste and recycling: Carter, 8815 Asheville Highway; Dutchtown, 10618 Dutchtown Road; Halls, 3608 Neal Drive; John Sevier, 1950 W. Governor John Sevier Highway; Karns, 6930 Karns Crossing Lane; Powell, 7311 Morton View Lane; Tazewell Pike, 7201 Tazewell Pike. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Wednesday, Sunday and holidays. Trash is limited to one standard 5-by-8 pickup load per household a day; recycling is unlimited, but glass is not taken. Business, nonprofit, rental-property and contractor waste is turned away. Knox County Solid Waste: 865-215-5865.

The state’s mobile household hazardous waste events are open to any Tennessee resident; the Tennessee hub has the program page.

Fees and billing

There is no residential trash bill in Knoxville. Curbside garbage, recycling, bulky, brush and leaf collection for homes of up to four units are paid for with city taxes. The costs that do exist:

  • A second, orange and blue garbage cart is rented from Waste Connections for a monthly fee the city does not publish; call 865-522-8161, extension 2.
  • Transfer station loads: $85 a ton for trash and construction debris and $95 a ton with shingles since September 1, 2026, $1 minimum, cards only. Scrap metal is free.
  • Hazardous waste drop-off, the four recycling centers and the county convenience centers are free for residents, and the first Saturday of the month is free at the transfer station.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

  1. Leave the cart at the curb. Drivers sometimes work late or collect missed carts the next day, and there is no set pickup time.
  2. Wait until the next business day before reporting.
  3. Report within two business days of your service day: if Monday is your day, report Tuesday or Wednesday. Call 311 or 865-215-4311, use the 311 online form ↗ or the My Knoxville app; email is slower.

A late report still counts, but the driver returns only on the next scheduled day. A damaged or stolen cart is a call to 311. During the October 2026 route change, Waste Connections takes calls about the new routes at 865-522-8161.

Set-out rules and fines

  • Overflow trash is not collected, and a cart with an open or lifted lid is skipped.
  • More than five bulky items at once means nothing is collected and can bring a Codes Enforcement violation.
  • Bagged leaves beside the cart, unbroken cardboard boxes and brush mixed with trash stay on the curb.
  • Open burning inside the city is prohibited.

Materials with their own rules

  • Household hazardous waste: 1033 Elm Street, free for residents, 100 pounds a day.
  • Paint: oil-based paint goes to the hazardous waste facility, up to 20 gallons a day; latex paint is dried out and put in the garbage cart.
  • Household batteries: alkaline batteries go in the trash; lead-acid, lithium and rechargeable batteries go free to 1033 Elm Street.
  • Lithium-ion batteries: never in either cart; free at the hazardous waste facility.
  • Light bulbs: fluorescent tubes and CFLs go free to the hazardous waste facility, never in recycling.
  • Styrofoam: not in the recycling cart; bag it for the transfer station.
  • Old gasoline: up to 10 gallons a day at the hazardous waste facility.
  • Antifreeze: free at the hazardous waste facility, 1033 Elm Street, never down a drain.
  • Cooking oil and grease: cooking grease goes to the hazardous waste facility.
  • Mattresses: a bulky item at the curb, or up to four a day at the transfer station.
  • Tires: off the rim, a bulky item at the curb; four a day at the transfer station.
  • Aerosol cans and propane tanks: both go to the hazardous waste facility, never in the recycling cart.
  • Fire extinguishers: free at the hazardous waste facility, 1033 Elm Street.
  • Sharps: capped and labeled in a sturdy plastic bottle in the garbage cart, never in recycling.

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