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

San Antonio trash pickup is run by the City of San Antonio Solid Waste Management Department. The brown garbage cart goes once a week, and the blue recycling and green organics carts go weekly on a shared day. Find your days on the city’s My Collection Day map. What trips people up most: brush and bulky piles go only twice a year each, after a door hanger, and a mixed or late pile can cost up to $2,000 a day.

Downtown San Antonio at dusk with the Tower of the Americas

Photo: Downtown San Antonio at dusk with the Tower of the Americas. Katie Haugland Bowen, 2012-09-30. CC BY 2.0 · Source. Resized for web.

San Antonio trash and recycling pickup schedule

Solid Waste Management serves nearly 370,000 residential households. Every cart comes in three sizes, and only the brown garbage cart’s size changes your bill: the smaller the brown cart, the lower the monthly fee. The blue and green carts share a day; the city’s Services Guide says the brown cart goes on a different day. My Collection Day shows both.

Cart Color and sizes How often Monthly cost
Garbage Brown; 48, 64 or 96 gallons Once a week $19.76, $25.26 or $35.75 by size
Recycling Blue; 48, 64 or 96 gallons Weekly, same day as organics No extra fee
Organics Green; 48, 64 or 96 gallons Weekly, same day as recycling No extra fee
Brush and bulky items No cart; curbside piles Twice a year each, week set by address Extra pickups from $50
  • Put carts out by 7 a.m. with the wheels against the curb and nothing blocking them.
  • Do not overstuff: the lid must close, and nothing outside the cart is collected. Bag garbage in plastic bags tied tightly.
  • Recyclables go in loose, never in bags of any kind. Organics go in loose or in plain brown paper or leaf bags holding only organic material.
  • Never put household hazardous waste (paint, motor oil, household cleaners), hot ashes or coals, or construction materials such as metal, lumber and tile in the brown cart. Batteries and electronics go in no cart. For medicine and biohazardous waste, the city points to saws.org/meddropsa ↗.
  • Need an extra brown cart collection? Request an out-of-cycle collection ↗ online or through 311 for $10, up to three times a year.
  • Residents who are physically unable to roll their carts to the curb can ask 311 about the medical waiver walk-up service, where the route driver moves the carts.
  • The city is trying out text messages that confirm your garbage, recycling or compost cart was emptied; call 210-207-6428 to sign up. It may end at any time, and alerts can be wrong on cul-de-sacs, alleys and multi-unit properties.

The Solid Waste Management Department’s Business & Commercial pages cover private hauler permits, commercial recycling and multi-family recycling.

What goes in the San Antonio recycling cart

The blue cart takes clean, empty, dry items, loose. For a single item, the city’s Search Material Disposal tool ↗ says whether it goes in the brown, blue or green cart, a drop-off center or household hazardous waste.

  • Yes: flattened cardboard boxes; cereal, shoe and detergent boxes and paper towel cores, liners removed; newspaper, mail, flyers, catalogs, magazines, phone books and paperback books; plastic bottles, jars, jugs, clear food containers and take-out containers, rinsed, with caps and lids off; glass bottles and jars, rinsed, lids off; aluminum and steel cans and metal lids; clean aluminum foil; milk, juice and Tetra Pak cartons, straws and wrap removed; empty aerosol cans with the nozzle removed; rinsed cleaning-product bottles with the sprayer removed.
  • No: plastic bags and film, even bundled (many stores have bag drop-off kiosks); Styrofoam, including packing peanuts; hoses, ropes, clotheslines, light strings and strapping, which tangle the sorting machinery; compostable plastics; paper coated in plastic or wax, such as pet food bags and coated take-out boxes; chip cans and cereal liners; hardcover books; shredded paper and food-soiled paper; clothing and textiles (donate them); batteries and electronics; diapers.
  • A recycling symbol does not mean an item is accepted. The list is limited by the city’s contracted recycling company, and the city says: if in doubt, put it in the brown cart.
  • Drivers and inspectors tag carts that hold unaccepted items. If it keeps happening, a $25 fee goes on your CPS Energy bill, or $50 for diapers.

Pizza boxes go in the green cart, greasy or not.

Yard waste and food scraps

The green organics cart goes every week on your recycling day. Contaminated green carts go to the landfill instead of the compost facility and bring the same $25 fee ($50 for diapers).

  • Yes: food scraps taken out of their packaging, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, food-soiled paper and napkins, plain paper plates, pizza boxes, plain shredded paper, leaves, grass clippings, hedge and shrub trimmings, garden plants and weeds with the dirt shaken off, branches up to 3 feet long and 4 inches thick, sawdust and dryer lint.
  • No: plastic of any kind, including bags and containers sold as compostable or biodegradable; Styrofoam; glass and metal; pet waste and kitty litter, which go bagged in the brown cart. Bones are organic, but the city calls them undesirable for composting.
  • Bagged leaves: two free curbside leaf collections per fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), then $20 each. Call 311 or use the city’s Bagged Leaf Collection page ↗. Use kraft paper bags or boxes only; leaves in the street, in plastic bags or in garbage carts are not collected.
  • Brush: larger branches go on the twice-yearly curbside brush pile (see bulk pickup below) or to the Bitters Brush Recycling Center, where they become mulch.
  • Christmas trees: a real tree is not picked up at the curb unless it is cut to fit in the green cart. Drop-off locations open the first two weeks of January; bring the tree free of decorations and plastic bags. The trees are mulched, and the mulch is available to customers. Christmas lights go to household hazardous waste.

The compost goes back to the community, including the San Antonio Botanical Garden and city parks, and compost can be requested for community events at no charge.

Bulk trash pickup in San Antonio

San Antonio collects brush and bulky items at the curb twice a year each, as separate piles. My Collection Day gives an estimated timeframe for your address, and a door hanger announces your collection week 7 to 10 days ahead. Do not set out a pile until the door hanger arrives; if you have not received one, call 311.

  • Brush pile: small limbs and branches, shrubs and vines only.
  • Bulky pile: furniture, mattresses and box springs, large appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers and air conditioners (take the doors off), water heaters, metal items, TVs, carpeting and up to six non-commercial car tires without rims.
  • Never in the bulky pile: brush, garbage, household hazardous waste, more than six tires, or construction and remodeling materials such as drywall, bricks, tile, windows and doors. Those building materials go to a bulky waste collection center. Rocks and soil are not collected at the curb; take them to a landfill or transfer station, where fees may apply. Concrete is not accepted in any city program.
  • Mattresses stained with blood, urine or feces or infested with fleas or bedbugs are refused at the curb and at the centers; take them to a landfill.
  • Each pile may be up to 8 cubic yards, within 8 feet of the curb, ready by 7 a.m. on the Monday of your collection week. Trucks drive through an area only once and usually finish within the week.
  • A brush pile with non-brush material, a bulky pile with brush in it, a blocked pile or one set out after the crew has passed can bring a fine of up to $2,000 a day plus a collection and disposal fee.
  • Missed brush or bulky collection: use the brush and bulky missed collection form ↗ or call 311.
  • Need a pickup between cycles? Request an out-of-cycle brush or bulky collection ↗: $50 for one item or up to 4 cubic yards, plus $25 for each additional 4 cubic yards or part of it. The department leaves a door hanger with the estimated cost and collects within two business days after you pay.
  • The four bulky waste collection centers (listed below) take bulky items free all year for residential customers who pay the environmental fee.
  • Free Landfill Day comes once a quarter: Solid Waste customers can leave bulky waste at local landfills at no cost. The city posts each date on its Free Landfill Day page ↗.
  • For a neighborhood cleanup, reserve a garbage truck and trailer through the Disposal Assistance Team program on the Community Collections page ↗.

San Antonio holiday trash schedule

San Antonio sets curbside holiday changes by fiscal year, which runs October 1 to September 30, and posts each year’s schedule on the My Collection Day page ↗ by early November. Customers also get a letter in early November about the changes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In the 2025-26 schedule, most holidays changed nothing: Veterans Day, an April city holiday, Fiesta San Jacinto Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day and Labor Day all kept the regular days. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s weeks moved Thursday collection to Friday and Friday collection to Saturday. Martin Luther King Jr. week moved every weekday one day later, Monday through Friday. The household hazardous waste and brush drop-off centers close on city holidays.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Household hazardous waste never goes in any cart. The city runs one permanent drop-off center, a monthly drop-off site and quarterly mobile events. Bring a recent CPS Energy bill and a photo ID.

  • Taken: latex paint and paint cans; stains, finishes and solvents; flammable liquids; pool chemicals; automotive fluids, filters and containers; cleaning products that are not empty; batteries of every type, including car batteries; propane tanks, aerosol cans that still hold product, fire extinguishers and other pressurized containers; fluorescent tubes and other light bulbs; thermostats, thermometers and other mercury devices; smoke and carbon monoxide alarms; Christmas lights; computers, tablets, smartphones and printers; and large amounts of cooking oil in labeled containers.
  • Elsewhere: ammunition goes to any police substation. Medications can go in the trash or to a MedDropSA collection event; never flush them. Needles go in a hard plastic or metal container with the lid taped shut, then in the household trash.
  • Packing: keep contents in the original container, move a leaking container’s contents to a leak-proof or lined box, never mix materials, and carry everything in a box in the trunk or truck bed. Paint and other liquids are limited to five 5-gallon cans and 25 one-gallon cans, 220 pounds in all.
  • Electronics: computers, tablets, smartphones and printers go to household hazardous waste, never a cart, and the city notes that Goodwill Industries recycles some electronics. TVs go on the bulky pile or to a bulky center.

Drop-off sites:

  • Household hazardous waste drop-off, 7030 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238. Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, closed holidays.
  • Monthly household hazardous waste drop-off event, Bitters Bulky Waste Collection Center, 1800 Wurzbach Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78216. Free, 8 a.m. to noon, usually on the first Saturday of the month and in some months on a Friday and Saturday pair. Dates are on the monthly events page ↗.
  • Bulky waste collection centers, four sites: 1800 Wurzbach Parkway, 78216 (Bitters; enter from Jones Maltsberger and Wurzbach Parkway); 1531 Frio City Road, 78226; 7030 Culebra Road, 78238; 2755 Rigsby Road, 78222. Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to noon. Residential customers only, with a recent CPS Energy bill and photo ID; free if you pay the city’s environmental fee. They take furniture, mattresses, appliances, water heaters and AC units, carpeting, glass and mirrors, metal and auto parts, up to six car tires without rims, and construction and remodeling materials such as drywall, bricks, tile, windows, doors and painted wood. The Services Guide limits a visit to 4 cubic yards of bulky items and 1 cubic yard of construction debris. No household trash, brush, yard waste, hazardous material, soil, rocks or concrete.
  • Bitters Brush Recycling Center, 1800 Wurzbach Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78216. Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sundays and holidays. Residential brush and leaves, recycled into mulch; leaves in the wrong kind of container can be emptied out there. Bring a recent CPS Energy bill showing the environmental fee and a photo ID.

Cover your load with a tarp at any city disposal or processing center, or pay a $5 penalty.

Fees and billing

Garbage service is billed as taxable City Services on the CPS Energy electric bill, which also shows your cart size. The brown cart sets the rate; blue and green carts cost nothing extra.

Brown cart Solid waste fee Environmental fees (solid waste $3, parks $2) Monthly total
Small, 48 gallons $14.76 $5.00 $19.76
Medium, 64 gallons $20.26 $5.00 $25.26
Large, 96 gallons $30.75 $5.00 $35.75
  • Downsizing is free; call 311 or 210-207-6000. The first upsize is free, and each later upsize costs $25.
  • Extra brown cart collection: $10, up to three times a year.
  • Blue or green cart contamination: $25, or $50 for diapers.
  • Out-of-cycle brush or bulky pickup: $50 up to 4 cubic yards, $25 for each additional 4 cubic yards.
  • Bagged leaf pickup: two free per fiscal year, then $20.
  • Dead animal collection is free for residential customers.

Customer Billing is at 1901 S. Alamo, San Antonio, TX 78204.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

Wait until after 5 p.m. on your collection day, because drivers may still be on their routes. Then report a missed cart ↗ online or call 311 or 210-207-6000. Brush and bulky misses have their own form ↗. A “No Service” tag on your cart means it could not be collected; follow the curbside guidelines for the next pickup. To report a lost or damaged cart or change a cart’s size, call 311 or 210-207-6000. If the city replaces a worn or damaged cart, it leaves a door hanger so you know the cart was not stolen. Property damage during collection, or trash scattered during collection, goes through a service request ↗.

Set-out rules and fines

  • Brush or bulky piles that mix materials, are blocked or go out after the crew has passed: fine of up to $2,000 a day, plus a collection and disposal fee. Violations bring a tag and a letter.
  • Contaminated blue or green carts: a reminder tag, then a warning, then $25 on the CPS Energy bill ($50 for diapers).
  • Uncovered loads at a city disposal or processing center: $5.
  • Report illegal dumping to 311.

Materials with their own rules

  • Household hazardous waste: 7030 Culebra Road, the monthly event at Bitters or a quarterly mobile event, with a CPS Energy bill and photo ID.
  • Paint: latex paint and paint cans go to household hazardous waste, up to five 5-gallon and 25 one-gallon cans per visit.
  • Lithium-ion batteries: every type of battery goes to household hazardous waste, never in any cart.
  • Mattresses: the twice-yearly bulky pile or a bulky waste center, free; stained or infested mattresses go to a landfill.
  • Pizza boxes: green cart, even greasy ones.
  • Christmas trees: drop-off locations the first two weeks of January, or cut to fit the green cart.
  • Tires: up to six non-commercial car tires without rims on the bulky pile or at a bulky center.
  • Aerosol cans and propane tanks: empty aerosol cans go in the blue cart with the nozzle off; partly full cans and propane tanks go to household hazardous waste.

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