Houston Heavy Trash Pickup: Collection Rules, Accepted Items & Alternatives

It’s August in Houston, the temperature just hit 105°, and it’s not even noon yet. Your window AC unit died overnight and the replacement is already on the way. You set the broken unit out on the curb next to a worn-out couch, right on time for heavy trash week.

Houston’s heavy trash pickup crew comes the next morning, loads the couch into the truck, but leaves the AC unit behind. Since you had no certified technician’s tag showing the refrigerant was removed, the city wouldn’t take it. And if that untagged unit was sitting in the same pile as everything else, the crew could’ve left the couch behind too.

That’s one of the two rules that catch Houston residents off guard most often.

Houston’s heavy trash program only picks up junk waste (furniture, appliances, and bulk household items) in even months: February, April, June, August, October, and December. Odd months are yard waste only. Set out a couch in March and it’ll sit there until April.

Here’s how the full program works, what items qualify, and what to do when the city program doesn’t cover what you need.

The City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department runs monthly heavy trash pickup for eligible residential addresses. The program alternates between two types of material:

• Odd months (January, March, May, July, September, November): Tree Waste only. Accepted items: limbs, branches, stumps, and clean wood material
• Even months (February, April, June, August, October, December): Junk Waste only. Accepted items: furniture, appliances, carpet, mattresses, and large household items

You get six junk waste pickups per year. If you need bulk items picked up in a month that doesn’t match your type, use a Neighborhood Drop-off Center instead (more on those below).

Finding your collection schedule

Your specific collection week is assigned by address and can differ from your neighbors’. There’s three ways to look it up:

• HTX Collects app (free, iOS and Android): includes your garbage day, recycling week, and heavy trash schedule together. Download at houstontx.gov/solidwaste/htxcollects.html
• HoustonRecycles.org: address-based schedule lookup online
• Phone: 832-394-1453 (Monday through Friday 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM)

Setout rules

• Items can go out no earlier than 6 PM on the Friday before your collection week
• Everything has to be in place by 7 AM on your scheduled collection day
• Place items just behind the curb line in front of your home, not in the street or on the sidewalk
• Keep the pile away from wires, signs, mailboxes, meters, hydrants, and other obstacles

Volume limit and the mixed pile rule

The curbside limit per setout is 8 cubic yards, roughly the size of a fully loaded minivan. The city also limits resident-generated building material to a separate 4 cubic yards (excluding shingles, brick, plaster, and concrete).

The mixed pile rule is the one that costs residents the most: if accepted and unaccepted items are mixed together in one pile, the crew may refuse the entire pile, not just the unaccepted item. Keep everything that doesn’t belong out of the pile entirely, or stage it completely separately.

Who is eligible

Heavy trash service covers occupied residential units receiving City of Houston curbside collection. Multi-residential buildings with more than eight units are not eligible and must use a private licensed hauler.

Most common household bulk items qualify. Several have specific prep requirements before setout.

One note on concrete: it is excluded from curbside heavy trash pickup but accepted as recyclable at the city’s neighborhood depositories. If you have leftover concrete from a project and can haul it yourself, a local depository is the right call.

This is where Houston’s program trips people up most often, and it’s specifically a Houston problem. The city sits in one of the hottest urban climates in the US, with summer temperatures regularly above 100 degrees. AC units fail at high rates, replacements happen every summer, and almost nobody knows the rules for getting rid of the old one.

What the city requires

Per the official Houston Solid Waste Management rules, appliances containing gas, chemicals, or coolant are not accepted in curbside heavy trash unless the refrigerant has been removed by a certified technician and the unit has been tagged to prove it. This applies to:

• Window and portable air conditioners
• Central AC compressors and condensers
• Refrigerators and freezers
• Dehumidifiers and similar refrigerant-containing appliances

Stoves, washers, dryers, and water heaters don’t contain refrigerant. They go in the pile with no extra steps.

Why the tag requirement matters so much in Houston

Most window AC unit failures happen in June, July, and August, which are even months (junk waste months). The timeline looks like this: the unit dies in August heat, the replacement gets installed the same week, and the old unit needs to go. Without a certified HVAC technician to recover the refrigerant and issue a tag, the crew won’t take it. If it goes in the collection pile anyway, the crew may leave the entire pile: furniture, mattresses, and all of it.

Options for AC unit and refrigerator disposal

• Hire a certified HVAC or appliance technician to recover the refrigerant and tag the unit, then place it in the next even month’s heavy trash or take it to a Neighborhood Drop Off Center (same tag required there)
• Neighborhood drop-off centers: All six locations accept refrigerant appliances with a certified tag
• Private hauler: The fastest option when you need the unit gone today, especially if timing the city’s schedule doesn’t work

For AC units or refrigerators that need to come out of a tight space, or when the certified-tag process adds too much time, LoadUp handles AC unit disposal in Houston without the certification step on your end. Need the full appliance picture? LoadUp also handles appliance removal in Houston for refrigerant and non-refrigerant appliances alike.

Electronics and household hazardous materials (paint, chemicals, solvents, motor oil, batteries) cannot go in the heavy trash pile. The City of Houston operates two Environmental Service Centers (ESC) for free drop-off.

Environmental Service Center South

• Address: 11500 S. Post Oak Rd., Houston TX 77035
• Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 8 AM to 5 PM
• Accepted: TVs, computers, monitors, printers, microwaves, batteries (lead acid and rechargeable), motor oil, antifreeze, paint (up to 25 gallons), pool chemicals, solvents, fluorescent bulbs, tires (up to 5 per month, no commercial vehicle tires)
• Proof of address required: Texas-issued ID plus current City of Houston utility bill or lease with matching address

Environmental Service Center North

• Address: 5614 Neches St, Houston TX 77026
• Hours: Open the second Thursday of each month only, 9 AM to 3 PM
• Same accepted items and proof of address requirements as ESC South

Plan around ESC South. ESC North is only open one day per month. If you miss it, you wait.

For electronics that need to be removed from inside the home, LoadUp handles electronics removal in Houston without requiring a trip to either ESC location.

The residential drop-off centers are the most useful part of Houston’s system that most residents don’t know about. All six accept bulky items, yard waste, and recycling year-round, and they’re the right place to go between heavy trash months or when your load exceeds 8 cubic yards.

• Current hours (as of September 2026): Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM
• Visits per month: Up to 4 times per month per residence
• Proof of address required: Texas-issued ID plus current City of Houston utility bill or lease with matching address

These drop-off centers accept refrigerant appliances (AC units, refrigerators). The same certified technician tag required for curbside applies here too. No tag, no drop-off.

Because hours and rules can change, we recommend checking Houston’s residential drop-off center page before loading up your car.

The Houston metro is massive, and most of the surrounding suburbs operate entirely separate waste programs. The City of Houston heavy trash program covers only addresses within City of Houston limits that already receive city curbside collection.

If you live in Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Katy, The Woodlands, Friendswood, or other incorporated suburbs, check your city’s official website for its own heavy trash or bulk item program. Each city has its own rules, schedule, and provider.

For unincorporated Harris County areas (a large share of the Houston metro), most addresses are served by private haulers contracted through Municipal Utility Districts or HOAs. If you’re not sure whether you’re in City of Houston limits, the HTX Collects app provides a City of Houston schedule if your address is eligible; if your address isn’t recognized, you’re likely outside city limits.

Six junk waste collections a year covers most situations, but it doesn’t cover everything, and the timing doesn’t always cooperate. It might not work for you if:

• You need furniture or appliances gone in an odd month and can’t wait until the next even month
• You have an AC unit or refrigerator without a certified technician’s tag and need it out today
• You have construction or renovation debris: contractor-generated debris is never collected and resident-generated material is capped at 4 cubic yards
• You need items removed from inside the home, not just placed at the curb
• Your load is more than 8 cubic yards and you’ve used your depository visits for the month
• You live in Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, or another suburb and want one service that covers the whole job
• Your building has more than eight units and isn’t eligible for city services

If the timing doesn’t fit or you live outside city limits, LoadUp offers junk removal across Houston and the surrounding metro with same-day or next-day availability. LoadUp offers upfront, guaranteed pricing before anyone shows up, and your Loaders can handle the heavy lifting from inside your home, with no sorting or separating required on your end.