Denver Large Item Pickup: The 9-Week Schedule, What Qualifies, and What to Do With Everything Else

Every spring in Denver, the same thing happens. Ski season ends, the garage gets opened for the first time in months, and somewhere in the middle of the bikes, old camping gear, and exercise equipment nobody touched, something has to go.

Denver’s Large Item Pickup program handles most of it. The program runs every 9 weeks on your regular trash day with no scheduling, no appointment, and no phone call required. Find your next pickup date at denvergov.org, put up to 5 qualifying items at the curb by 6 AM, and the crew handles the rest.

Two things catch people off guard. Appliances are not part of the standard program. They go through a separate free appointment system. And if you’re looking at a hot tub, a full garage cleanout, or more than 5 items at once, no 9-week cycle is going to clear that in one shot.

Here’s how Denver’s Large Item Pickup program works, what it accepts, and what to do when it doesn’t cover what you need.

Denver Solid Waste runs Large Item Pickup every 9 weeks on the same weekday as your regular trash and recycling collection. The program changed from monthly to a 9-week rotation back in 2025.

No scheduling is required. The pickup is built into your address’s automatic rotation. Look up your exact date using the address calendar at denvergov.org (search your address and look for the “Large Item Pickup” entry) or use the Denver Trash & Recycling mobile app. The address calendar is the most reliable source. An estimated 9-week date is not enough, because holiday delays shift the actual date.

Limits and setout rules

• Maximum 5 large items plus up to 10 extra trash bags per cycle
• Items out by 6:00 AM on your Large Item Pickup day
• Keep the pile at least 2 feet from carts, vehicles, poles, and other obstructions
• Store items on private property until no more than 24 hours before your scheduled date. Setting items out early is considered illegal dumping and carries fines from $50 to $200
• Items must be visible to the crew; do not hide prohibited material inside furniture

Mattress rule

Mattresses and box springs are accepted, but each must be completely wrapped or sealed in a mattress bag before setout. The crew will skip an unwrapped mattress. Each mattress and each box spring counts as a separate item toward the 5-item limit. A mattress and box spring together use two of your five slots.

Holiday delays

When your Large Item Pickup falls on or after an observed Denver Solid Waste holiday, collection is delayed one day for the rest of that week.

2026 observed holidays affecting collection: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day (observed July 3), Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Use the address calendar or Denver Trash & Recycling app to confirm the adjusted date for your address.

Denver publishes a specific accepted items list for Large Item Pickup. If an item isn’t on the list, check with Denver 311 before setting it out.

This is the most common Large Item Pickup mistake in Denver. A resident sets a refrigerator or washing machine at the curb on Large Item day. The crew skips it. Appliances are specifically excluded from the standard program. They don’t get picked up, and the resident waits another 9 weeks for the next cycle.

Denver Solid Waste runs a separate, free appliance collection by appointment for eligible residents. The program covers stoves, ovens, dishwashers, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, hot water heaters, furnaces, and air conditioners. Schedule through denvergov.org or by calling 311.

The CFC tag requirement

Refrigerant appliances (refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers) require a CFC/refrigerant removal tag from a licensed HVAC technician before the crew will collect them. Without the tag, the appliance stays at the curb. The city may bill for a return trip if the crew has to come back for a previously untagged unit.

Stoves, washers, dryers, and hot water heaters don’t contain refrigerant and don’t need the tag. They can go through the appliance appointment without any extra preparation.

For appliance removal in Denver without navigating the appointment timeline or the technician step for refrigerant units, LoadUp handles both non-refrigerant appliances from wherever they are in the home.

Denver’s Large Item Pickup is well-suited for the spring cleanout that happens in most Colorado households after ski season. Non-electric bicycles and exercise equipment are both specifically listed as accepted, which covers a meaningful portion of the gear that accumulates in a Colorado garage over a winter.

What outdoor gear qualifies

• Non-electric bicycles: Accepted. E-bikes are excluded because of their motors and batteries.
• Exercise equipment (without motors or batteries): Accepted. Motorized treadmills or equipment with integrated electronics likely don’t qualify.
• Skis, snowboards, and poles: Not specifically named on the official list, but likely qualify as large items. Confirm with Denver 311 before setting out.
• Camping gear (tents, sleeping bags, large packs): Smaller items can go in extra bags; larger structural items may qualify as large items. Check the size and confirm with 311.

The timing problem

The 9-week rotation means residents need to plan around their assigned date, not around when they decide to clean. If your next Large Item date is 8 weeks out, that determines when things go. If your next Large Item date is 8 weeks away and you want the gear gone this weekend, the city’s program doesn’t solve that. Same goes for post-season cleanouts where the volume exceeds 5 items. A full Colorado ski season’s worth of accumulated gear can easily push past the per-cycle limit.

Hot tubs and what the city will never take

Denver’s spring outdoor culture also generates a category the city program doesn’t touch at all. Hot tubs are never accepted through any Denver city program. They’re too large for the standard crew, require disassembly, and are specifically excluded from all residential collection options. A private hauler with hot tub disassembly capability is the only path.

For spring garage cleanouts that exceed the 5-item limit or include items the city won’t take, a single private hauler visit covers everything at once rather than splitting across multiple 9-week cycles.

Electronics are excluded from Denver’s Large Item Pickup, and Colorado law prohibits disposing of electronics in landfills. Denver provides free drop-off at Cherry Creek for Denver residents.

Cherry Creek Recycling and Compost Drop-Off

• Address: 7400 Cherry Creek S Dr, Denver (near S. Quebec St. and E. Cherry Creek South Drive)
• Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 9 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 4:30 PM (closed 12-1 PM daily)
• Closed Sundays, Mondays, and City holidays
• Requirements: Denver residents only; proof of residency required; maximum 2 visits per resident per day
• Accepts: Electronics (e-waste), extra recycling and compost

Household hazardous waste

Paint, batteries, motor oil, chemicals, and other household hazardous materials cannot go in the garbage or the Large Item pile. Denver’s HHW facility on Havana Street accepts these materials for proper disposal. Check denvergov.org for the current HHW facility address, hours, and accepted items before making a trip.

For paint specifically, Colorado PaintCare drop-off sites at participating hardware retailers accept leftover paint at no charge.

Denver’s Large Item Pickup covers City and County of Denver addresses only. The surrounding suburbs each operate separate programs with different schedules, different limits, and different haulers.

Aurora

Aurora does not provide city-run trash or recycling collection. Every household is required to select and pay a licensed private hauler independently. Bulk item pickup options in Aurora depend entirely on which hauler you chose and what that hauler includes. Check auroragov.org for the list of licensed haulers and confirm bulk item services directly with your provider. For items a private hauler can’t handle quickly, LoadUp provides junk removal in Aurora.

Lakewood

Lakewood runs a Large Item Collection program on the first Monday of each month by neighborhood zone. The service is free within the monthly limit; additional items are $15 each. Wait time is typically 2 to 4 weeks depending on your zone’s next date. For private hauling, LoadUp can help you with all junk removal in Lakewood.

Thornton

Thornton offers bulky item collection four times per year by neighborhood zone. Wait time ranges from 1 to 12 weeks depending on when your zone is next scheduled. Check Thornton’s utilities page for your specific schedule. LoadUp serves Thornton with same-day and next-day availability when the city schedule doesn’t fit the timeline.

Denver’s 9-week rotation handles routine cleanouts well. A full garage clearance, a hot tub, or a project that runs past the item limit is a different situation.

• You can’t wait 9 weeks and need the items gone this week or this weekend
• You have more than 5 large items and can’t split the cleanout across multiple cycles
• You have a hot tub: never accepted through any Denver city program
• You have appliances and need them out faster than the separate appointment system allows
• You have construction or renovation debris: not accepted through any city residential program
• Items need to come out from inside the garage or home. The city picks up from the curb only
• You’re in Aurora, Lakewood, or Thornton and your hauler’s bulk pickup doesn’t cover what you need

For cleanouts that go beyond the city’s scope, LoadUp provides junk removal across Denver and the surrounding metro with same-day and next-day availability. No 9-week wait, no item limit, no requirement that items be at the curb first. Loaders are independent contractors who handle the carrying from wherever items actually are: garage, basement, second floor, backyard. That includes full garage cleanouts after ski season, estate cleanouts, and anything too large or excluded for the city program.

For furniture and household items still in usable condition, LoadUp routes eligible pieces to donation partners including Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and the Furniture Bank Association of North America before anything goes to disposal. Through the Plant with Purpose program, every LoadUp pickup contributes to reforestation efforts nationwide.

LoadUp runs 20-30% below what most junk removal companies charge for comparable work in Denver, and offers a price match guarantee for any written quote for the same service.