Houston heavy trash

What Houston will take, what has to be prepared first, and where the rest goes.

For your next heavy trash collection date. We add Houston for you, and we do not store it.

Houston heavy trash: what you can put out

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Put it out as it is5

  • Household furniture
  • Mattresses and box springs
  • Stoves, washers, dryers and water heaters
  • Toilets
  • Bicycles and toys

Put it out, but get it ready first6

Refrigerators and freezers
Only with a tag from a certified technician showing the refrigerant has been removed. The city does not do this for you and does not name anyone who will, so you arrange it yourself before collection day.
Air conditioners
Same as a refrigerator. Anything holding coolant needs the refrigerant removed and tagged by a certified technician first.
Building material
Up to 4 of your 8 cubic yards, and only material you generated maintaining your own property. Shingles, brick, plaster and concrete are excluded, and sheet rock has to be bagged.
Tires
Up to four passenger tires. Crews separate them from the rest of the pile, and it can take up to a week after the main collection for them to be picked up.
Carpet
Secure it or bundle it.
Tree limbs and branches
No single piece thicker than 8 inches or longer than 10 feet.

Not this collection. Here is what does take it5

Electronics
The city says not to set electronic scrap out for heavy trash at all.Environmental Service Center South11500 S. Post Oak Rd, Houston, TX 77035311Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 8am to 5pmHouston publishes no direct number for these sites, so 311 is the city's route for questions. Bring Texas ID and a city utility bill or lease with a matching address. Paint up to 25 gallons, five tires a month.Environmental Service Center North5614 Neches St, Houston, TX 77026311Second Thursday of the month only, 9am to 3pm
Paint, chemicals and household hazardous waste
Latex and oil-based paint up to 25 gallons, motor oil, solvents and pool chemicals.Environmental Service Center SouthEnvironmental Service Center North
Roofing materials and shingles
Shingles go to a residential drop-off center, bagged, within the 4 cubic yard cap on contractor-type material. Brick and concrete are NOT taken there.Residential Drop-Off Centers, six across the cityNorth 9003 N Main; Northwest 14400 Sommermeyer; Northeast 5565 Kirkpatrick; Southeast 2240 Central; South 5100 Sunbeam; Southwest 10785 SW Freeway311Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 6pmHouston publishes no direct number for these sites, so 311 is the city's route for questions. Free, up to four visits a month. Bring Texas ID and a city utility bill with a matching address.
Contractor debris
Whoever did the work has to take it away. That covers tree removal, construction, roofing and remodeling.
Bagged household garbage
Use your weekly garbage service.

Not collected, and the city names nowhere to take it1

Dirt, sod and soil
Not collected by heavy trash. The city names no alternative for it.

The rules for everything above

How much

  • 8 cubic yards per set-out, which the city describes as about the size of a minivan.
  • Six heavy trash collections a year, one every other month.
  • Mix accepted and unaccepted items and crews can refuse the whole pile rather than sort it.

Where it goes

  • Just behind the curb line in front of your home. Not in the street and not on the sidewalk.
  • Not under wires, signs or mailboxes, and not on top of meters, hydrants or other utilities.
  • Nothing may block people on foot or traffic.

When to put it out

  • Between 6pm on the Friday before and 7am on your collection day.
  • Putting it out before 6pm on that Friday is against the city ordinance.

If you get it wrong

  • A first conviction carries a fine of $50 to $2,000, and each conviction after that $250 to $2,000. Every day it stays out can count as a separate offense. That is the general penalty for the whole chapter, Houston Code of Ordinances section 39-4, and putting material out before 6pm on the Friday is made unlawful by section 39-77.

What Houston does not say

Houston publishes no answer for whether a mattress has to be bagged or wrapped, any length limit on carpet, whether car parts can go out at the curb, who removes the refrigerant, or what that costs, or a weight limit, or how far the pile must sit from cars, mailboxes and hydrants. Ask them directly if it matters to you.

Read on August 29, 2026: 004 TREE rules 08162016 (v6), trashfacts, esc, depository, chapter39.

From Houston’s own heavy trash page, read August 29, 2026. Read it on the city’s site.

Also on Houston

Houston schedule last checked September 5, 2026