Vermont trash pickup is run by cities, counties and private haulers, not by the state.
Your pickup day comes from your city’s or hauler’s own lookup. Among the largest cities, in Burlington, South Burlington and Rutland residents hire their own hauler. Vermont has a bottle deposit, a PaintCare paint drop-off program, an electronics recycling law and a ban on yard waste in landfills, but no statewide mattress program.
Find your city
The largest Vermont cities and their official collection pages:
- Burlington: no city collection: residents contract private haulers (the Burlington Department of Public Works collects curbside recycling). Private haulers provide solid waste collection for residential waste, while the Department of Public Works provides curbside recycling collection for all residential properties. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- South Burlington: no city collection: residents contract private haulers. The city says it does not own or operate residential trash removal because those services are privately owned, and the Landfill Road drop-off center is run by the Chittenden Solid Waste District, not the city. Official page ↗
- Rutland: no city collection: residents contract private haulers. The Department of Public Works says it does not pick up recyclables or other trash from the curbside and refers residents to Rutland County Solid Waste at (802) 775-7209. Official page ↗
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Who collects in Vermont
- Trash haulers must offer recycling pick-up and must charge residential customers one combined fee for both trash and recycling, and every town must require haulers to charge for trash by volume or weight. Source ↗
- Every trash collection site, including transfer stations and bag drops, must also collect blue-bin recycling and food scraps. Source ↗
- Local solid waste districts, alliances and towns run the drop-off and transfer station programs and can give transfer station hours and a list of local haulers. Source ↗
National haulers (Republic Services, WM, Waste Connections) hold contracts in many places; the city or county names the hauler for each street.
State-level rules
- Container deposit: Vermont has a bottle deposit law. Beer, malt beverages, pre-mixed spirits cocktails and carbonated non-alcoholic drinks carry a 5-cent deposit and liquor and spirits a 15-cent deposit, redeemable at retailers and certified redemption centers. Source ↗
- Paint: Vermont is on the PaintCare roster. PaintCare lists Vermont as one of the twelve states plus the District of Columbia where it operates a paint stewardship program. See paint. Source ↗
- Mattresses: No statewide mattress take-back program. The Mattress Recycling Council says its Bye Bye Mattress program operates statewide only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island, so Vermont has no state mattress stewardship program. See mattresses. Source ↗
- Electronics: Electronics are banned from Vermont landfills, and the manufacturer-funded Vermont E-Cycles program gives free drop-off recycling for computers, monitors, TVs, printers and computer accessories. Source ↗
- Yard waste: Banned from landfills statewide. The Universal Recycling Law (Act 148) bans leaf and yard debris and clean wood from the trash, along with blue-bin recyclables and food scraps. Source ↗
State agency
- State agency: Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation - Waste Management and Prevention Division. It runs Vermont’s Solid Waste and Recycling Program, administers the Universal Recycling Law and product stewardship programs, and points residents to their local solid waste district or town. Official website ↗
- Find your local program: Contact your waste district or town ↗
- Contact: 802-828-1138
Flag of Vermont. Public-domain artwork. Artwork: Simtropolitan Original by Denelson83. Source. Resized to 480 pixels wide.
Materials with their own rules
Paint · Lithium-ion batteries · Household hazardous waste · Mattresses · Pizza boxes · Christmas trees
Neighboring states
Massachusetts · New Hampshire · New York
Sources
Official pages used: dec.vermont.gov · dec.vermont.gov · dec.vermont.gov · burlingtonvt.gov · burlingtonvt.gov · burlingtonvt.gov · southburlingtonvt.gov · rutlandcity.org · dec.vermont.gov · paintcare.org · mattressrecyclingcouncil.org · dec.vermont.gov · dec.vermont.gov.
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