Columbus Bulk Item Pickup: 311 Scheduling, Excluded Items, and Drop-Off Options

Somewhere in Columbus, Ohio, a couch is sitting at the curb waiting for a truck that isn’t coming. The city will haul it away, but only after someone books it, and the trucks skip anything that missed that step. If the couch is part of a move, the rules get stricter still.

Columbus bulk item pickup runs on a booking system and a banned-items list that don’t carry over to the suburbs around it. Dublin, Westerville, Grove City, and Reynoldsburg each do things their own way, and Ohio State’s move-out season adds a surge on top of all that.

Here’s how city bulk pickup works, what it won’t take, where the drop-off centers fit in, and what changes once you cross into a suburb or start packing up an off-campus apartment.

The short answer: Columbus runs its own bulk program, and you have to book it through 311 before anything goes to the curb, while each of its surrounding suburbs handle it differently.

The City of Columbus picks up bulk items at no charge for residents, but nothing is collected unless you schedule it first. It covers furniture, mattresses, carpet, and appliances without refrigerants, like washers and dishwashers. Not sure when your trash day is? The city’s collection day lookup will tell you.

To book and prepare a pickup:

• Schedule through 311. You can book online any time, or call (614) 645-3111, Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 7 PM, according to the city’s resident’s guide.
• Put items in front of your home, clear of anything in the way, on your scheduled day. If your trash is collected in an alley, set them at the edge of your property along the alley line.
• Set them out no earlier than 72 hours before your collection day and no later than 6 AM that morning, at least 4 feet from parked cars and anything else in the way
• Leave furniture assembled, tape any glass, and roll carpet into a bundle 4 feet long and 2 feet across, tied with rope
• Keep bags, boxes, storage tubs, and luggage out of the pile. The city doesn’t count them as bulk, so they go in your trash cart.

Here’s one rule you won’t find on the city’s bulk page. The city’s Division of Refuse Collection has rules and regulations that say mattresses, upholstered furniture, and anything with fabric on it must be completely sealed in plastic wrap. Several suburbs ask for the same thing. If your items were exposed to bed bugs, the rules say to tell 311 when you book.

What Columbus bulk pickup will and won’t take

Some of the biggest gaps have nothing to do with the banned-items list. What matters is who’s putting the items out, and why.

• Move-outs and house cleanouts. The Division’s rules say bulk from a move-out or a house cleanout isn’t eligible and has to go through a licensed hauler. The city’s landlord guide says the same, and Ohio State’s off-campus guides point to “large amounts” of bulk from a move-out or cleanout.
• Evictions, set-outs, and foreclosures. The city’s bulk page says items from these won’t be collected. The city code puts the cleanup on the owner, who has to use a licensed hauler, and it lists a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for leaving set-out items in the street, sidewalk, or alley.
• Items that didn’t come from the property. Only things from the home itself can be scheduled, and only at a home someone is living in.
• Apartment buildings. In developments of five or more units on city service, the owner or manager schedules bulk, not individual residents, and it’s limited to one pickup at a time and one truckload.

If you’re in the middle of one of these, LoadUp handles apartment cleanouts, estate cleanouts, house cleanouts, and eviction cleanouts.

If you’d rather haul it yourself, the city runs two drop-off centers for Columbus residents. They’re self-service and at no cost, and staff are on hand to help you sort.

Both are open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 5 PM, and closed on city holidays that fall on those days, plus the Tuesday after a Monday holiday. The centers are only for Columbus residents and only for items from your own home, according to the city’s 2026 info sheet. Businesses and landscapers can’t use them.

What the Columbus centers take

Where to take TVs, tires, and hazardous waste in Columbus

The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, known as SWACO, picks up where the city centers leave off. Its Recycling Convenience Center at 2566 Jackson Pike takes TVs and tires for a fee. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 5 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM. SWACO lists $5 per tire, $15 for an LCD TV or monitor, and $25 to $45 for an older, boxy CRT TV. You can pay by card or check, but not cash, and fees can change, so check before you go.

SWACO’s household hazardous waste facility is at 645 E. 8th Ave. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM and the first Saturday of each month from 9 AM to 2 PM, and it takes paint strippers, batteries, gasoline, pool chemicals, and propane. It doesn’t take appliances or tires.

Ohio State’s residence halls empty out in early May, but the real crunch for curbs and alleys comes later. Off-campus leases turn over in July and August, and the University District fills up with couches, mattresses, and boxes.

The city knows it. Each summer, Columbus teams up with Ohio State and the University District Organization on a Move Out/Move In program that sets up temporary collection sites across the neighborhood. In 2026, it ran nearly 50 sites from July 24 to August 11.

• Dumpsters on streets and in alleys take bulk furniture, bagged trash, and smaller items. Some sites are taped off for bulk drop-off only, and others take recycling only.
• The University District Organization says the sites offer free disposal of couches, mattresses, desks, and other large items, and it posts a map of the sites
• Temporary No Stopping signs go up near on-street dumpsters, so check before you park
• Ohio State’s off-campus office says the city suspends regular bulk collection during busy move-out times and relies on these sites instead
• The two Convenience Centers are open to students who live in Columbus
• Fraternity and sorority houses aren’t eligible for city collection under the city code, so those houses need another plan

The sites help if you can carry everything out yourself, but you’re still the one getting a mattress down the stairs and into a dumpster. For an apartment cleanout where the Loaders do the lifting, LoadUp can pick up from your unit.

The City of Columbus program stops at the city limits. Four nearby suburbs run something different, and two homes a few miles apart can have different rules.

The pattern across central Ohio: Dublin, Westerville, and Grove City all ask you to wrap mattresses and upholstered furniture, and refrigerant appliances cost extra or need special handling almost everywhere. Check your own city’s rules before anything goes to the curb. For private hauling, LoadUp serves Dublin, Westerville, Grove City, and Reynoldsburg too.

That couch from the start of this guide doesn’t have to sit there waiting. You can book it with 311, wrap it in plastic, and wait for your day, or haul it to Alum Creek yourself. Or you can have someone carry it out of the house for you.

Calling a private hauler is usually the easier route when:

• You’re moving out or cleaning out an apartment, a house, or an estate
• The items came from an eviction or set-out
• You have a refrigerator, furnace, piano, hot tub, or pool table that the city won’t take
• You don’t want to schedule days ahead, wrap a mattress in plastic, or load a truck for a drop-off center
• Items need to come from inside the home, garage, or basement

LoadUp skips the 311 call and the curb deadline. You book junk removal in Columbus online, choose from available pickup dates, and your Loaders carry everything out, whether it’s one couch or a whole apartment. Bulk item pickup works the same way in the University District and in the suburbs around it.

LoadUp provides upfront online pricing and offers a price match guarantee for qualifying written quotes for the same service. Still comparing? Our guide to the best junk removal companies in Columbus breaks down your best local options.