The City of Denver - Trash Collection

Need more information on Denver's Trash & Recycling policies?  Want to see your area's specific collection schedule? Click the button, below, for a link.   ​​Did you know there's an app for that?  Get the Denver Trash & Recycling app at the Apple App Store or on Google play.

Trash Collection Guidelines 

Cart Service

​Dumpster Service

Extra Trash Service
  • Set the black trash cart out by 7 AM on your collection day.
  • Place the trash cart at least 2 feet from obstructions such as garage overhangs,cars, fences, poles,overflow trash, large items or other collection containers that may prevent the automated truck from emptying it.
CURB SET OUT: Set your black trash cart in the street with the wheels against the curb and front facing the street. The automated trucks cannot service containers set out backwards. ALLEY SET OUT: Set your black trash cart in the flow line of the alley and the front facing the alley. The automated trucks cannot service containers set out backwards.
  • Prevent litter by bagging all trash and keeping the trash cart lid closed whenever possible.
  • Do not put construction debris, sod, dirt or branches in the trash cart.
  • Store the black trash cart on your property, out of public view, in between collection days.
  • If your trash day and street sweeping day occasionally coincide, visit Trash Collection and Street Sweeping for instructions.
Keep area around dumpsters clear, place large items and recycling carts at least 2 feet from dumpsters.
  • Prevent litter by bagging all trash and always keeping dumpster lids closed.
  • Tie loose branches in bundles no longer than 4 feet and weighing no more than 50 pounds. Branches may not exceed 4 inches in diameter.
  • A maximum of 5 branch bundles may be placed in a dumpster per week. Hold extra branch bundles over until the next week or set bundles and bagged yard debris (weighing no more than 50 pounds) out on your Extra Trash serviceweek.
  • Do not put furniture,construction debris, sod or dirt in dumpsters.
  • Maximize space in the dumpster by placing items in the rear of the dumpster first. If the closest dumpster is full, then place your trash in any of the other dumpsters in your alley.
  • Report illegal dumping by calling 311 and providing a license plate number. Please do not confront illegal dumpers.
  • Call 311 to report damaged dumpsters (missing or broken lids or rusted bottoms) or graffiti on dumpsters.
  • During your scheduled Extra Trash service collection week, your extra trash must be set out by 7 AM on your normal trash collection day.
  • Extra Trash is any material left outside of your City-issued black trash cart. Only trash inside the black trash cart is collected weekly.
  • Extra trash should not be stored at the curb on non-collection days. Store your trash on your property, out of public view, until your scheduled collection day.
  • A maximum of 10 bags and 5 large items will be collected from each home per extra trash collection (every 4 weeks).
  • Use your black trash cart to full capacity. Heavy items should be placed in the bottom and the lid may be open to a 45 degree angle. The lid must not exceed 45 degrees and trash must not be placed on top of the cart lid.
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​Residential Recycling Services

The City of Denver provides every other week collection.  To determine your recycling collection schedule, call 311 or visit View My Service Schedule.

Missed your collection?​

​There are a number of reasons that your trash, recycling and/or composting might have been missed.
If your trash or recycling was for missed (and not for one of the above reasons), please call 311 (720-913-1311) to report the missed collection and/or find out if there was another reason for the missed collection.

​Important Recycling Facts

Collection time & schedule

The time a driver arrives to empty your recycling cart depends on many factors and may not always be the same. This is why it is important to set out your cart by no later than 7 AM, as it ensures your cart will be ready for collection no matter what time in the day the driver comes.  Carts may be set out as early as the night prior to your collection day and should be returned to your property within a day after collection has occurred.
We provide every other week collection.  Call 311 or visit View My Service Schedule to determine your recycling collection schedule.

Sign up for recycling

Recycling is free to all City of Denver Solid Waste Management customers. 
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Click here to: SIGN UP FOR RECYCLING service.​

What can be recycled?

Place only items listed on our What Can Be Recycled list in your recycling cart.
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Please do not overfill your cart or stack materials on or around it, as this can cause litter. 

​Materials left outside the cart, including cardboard, will not be collected for recycling, because the mechanical arm on our truck can only grab and lift recycling carts.

Recycling cardboard

Please flatten and break down cardboard boxes into pieces no larger than 2 ft. x 2 ft. before putting them in your recycling cart.  

If you prefer, you may lay cardboard flat in a stack across the top of your recycling cart and then close the lid on top. Just be sure that the lid closes to at least a 45-degree angle and that it is not an extremely windy day. 

​Cardboard left outside of your recycling cart will not be collected for recycling, as the automated arm on the recycling truck can only pick up and empty recycling carts.

Recycling plastics

Recycle rigid plastic bottles, jugs, jars, tubs, cups, trays and containers marked with the # 1 through #7 in the recycling symbols in the Denver Recycles program.  Please empty all liquids and food when possible. Remove plastic caps and lids and foil tops; they are not accepted for recycling.
Examples of acceptable items:
  • Soda, water, shampoo, and soap bottles
  • Milk, detergent and cat litter jugs
  • Yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter tubs
  • Peanut butter and mayo jars
  • "To-go" or "take out" plastic drinking cups
  • Plastic trays like those used for microwave dinners
  • "Clam-shell" containers like those used to package strawberries, blueberries and bakery cookies
  • Plastic containers like those used to package salad mixes
Materials not accepted:
  • NO Plastic bags
  • NO Plastic lids or caps
  • NO Styrofoam
  • NO Shrink wrap
  • NO Toys
  • NO Tubes
  • NO "K-cups" or individual coffee creamers (too small to process)
  • NO Plastics marked as “PLA”, compostable, or made from plant based materials
  • NO Plastic containers larger than 3 gallons in size

Want a larger recycling cart?

Recycling Drop Off

Replacement Decal for Cart Lid
Maximize space in your cart by flattening all cardboard boxes and then lay them flat across the top of the rest of your recyclables and then close the lid.  This will help ensure that cardboard doesn't get stuck in your cart and will enable you to fit more cardboard in your cart. 
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 If you still regularly have significant amounts of extra recycling that will not fit in your cart, then call 311 or email [email protected] to see about "UPSIZING" to a larger recycling cart. ​
Learn where to recycle or compost just about anything!
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The City of Denver has created an easy to use directory to help residents learn where to recycle, compost, or dispose of various materials in Denver. Please note that while some of the drop-off centers may accept large quantities of materials, this information is intended primarily to facilitate the recycling of materials generated by households.
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Have time and weather washed out or made it hard to read the decal on the lid of your recycling cart? If so, we can mail you an updated decal that you can apply to your purple cart.

To get a recycling cart lid decal, complete the online request or call 311 (720-913-1311).
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Do you still have questions?

Do you want to learn more about electronics recycling? Appliance recycling?  Or, do you want to sign up for collection reminders?  Visit the Recycling Services website for these details and more!
Recycling Services

​Discover Denver's Compost Collection Program

Every year Denver residents throw out tons of food and yard waste that could have been turned into beneficial compost. There are now several ways you can not only help reduce the organic waste from your household in the City and County of Denver, but also reap the benefits as well.
  • Denver's Compost Collection Program - For a small quarterly fee, the City and County of Denver will provide you with a large green composting bin to help you reduce household food and yard waste.
  • Backyard Composting & Master Composting Classes - Learn the art of composting to create nutrient rich compost for your garden and other landscaping purposes.
  • Seasonal Programs - Treecycle, Denver LeafDrop, and Mulch Giveaway and Composts sales are held seasonally to help reduce landfill waste for Denver Residents.

Organic material like food, soiled paper and yard debris is the single largest item we throw away in our landfill, and it is 100% compostable. Participants in the compost collection program receive a large, green composting cart and weekly collection. Organic material such as yard debris, food and soiled paper are all accepted in the program.  Only material inside the green cart can be collected. Denver Compost is a fee-based service.

Click the link below to find out whether your address qualifies for the composting program.  Can't find your address?  Call 311 (720-913-1311).

Redefining what was once waste

Denver Composts makes composting household organic material as easy as recycling, by providing a green cart that is collected weekly. Households separate out organic material like yard debris, food scraps and non-recyclable paper and place them in the green cart instead of the trash. The organic material collected is sent to a commercial facility where it gets turned into a high quality soil amendment known as compost. 
By signing up for compost collection you can reduce the amount of waste you throw away by as much as 50 to 75 percent!
Denver Composts is a fee-based service paid for by the resident at the rate of $29.25 each quarter (every 3 months). See "Compost Service Payment Information" below for details.
The number of participants is limited, and only households within specific service areas are eligible for this program. Check your household's eligibility or enroll in the Compost Collection Program today:
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Denver Composts Expansion Information

The City’s compost collection program will be doubling the number of homes eligible for collection service in 2017. This means the program will be accessible to more neighborhoods and more participants than ever before. This expansion will happen in two phases with the addition of homes in both the first and fourth quarters of 2017. Phase one for 2017 is now posted on this page. Information on phase two for 2017 will be posted later this year. 

Denver Composts is a fee-based service paid for by the resident at the rate of $29.25 each quarter (every 3 months). See the "Compost Service Payment Information" section of Denver's Compost Collection Program page for details.
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Download Compost Expansion Spring 2017 Map