Garbage, recycling, and yard waste

Step one

Find your collection day

Pickup days are address-specific in Seattle — the same block can be on different days for garbage, recycling, and yard waste. Look it up once with your street address (no apartment number needed) and save it. The lookup is hosted by SPU; the Recycle It App mirrors it with reminders on your phone.

Service setup

Set yourself up — cart sizes and rates

Seattle uses a pay-as-you-throw structure: the bigger your garbage cart, the more you pay. Recycling is included at no extra charge, yard waste is cheap, and the lever for lowering your bill is moving material out of the garbage cart and into the other two. Cart sizes for single-family service:

• Rates effective April 2026. SPU adjusts annually each April; check the current rate card if you're reading this past spring 2027.
• Recycling is included in your garbage rate — no separate bill.
• Yard-waste cart is optional and separately billed: $7.75 / $11.60 / $14.75 per month for the 13, 32, and 96-gallon sizes.
• Billed every other month. Vacancy rate $6.85 per month after 60 consecutive vacant days.
• Extra garbage outside the cart: $14.40 per bag, bundle, or 32-gallon can, max 60 lbs per unit.
• Cart-size change: first change in a calendar year is free; $35.75 per change after that.

Honest take: Most Seattle households can save real money by downsizing one cart tier. Recycling is free and yard waste is cheap — the pay-as-you-throw nudge is real. A 64-gallon household that has been sorting well can usually drop to 32-gallon without overflow. First size change each calendar year is free, so try it.

How collection works

The weekly rhythm

Set carts at the curb or alley by 7:00 AM on your collection day, with the wheels facing your house and a few feet of clearance between carts so the truck arm can grab each one. SPU asks customers to bag all garbage — keeps loose contents out of the driver's hands and the cart cleaner between pickups. For sort questions (“Does this go in recycling or compost?”), SPU's Where Does It Go? tool is the canonical answer.

Missed collection

When a pickup is missed

Drivers occasionally skip a stop — wrong route order, a route running late, a misread cart. The report-and-re-collect flow is fast if you follow it; the most common mistake is reporting too early in the day.

1. Step 1Wait until after 6:00 PM on your collection day — drivers run late routes, and the system rejects reports filed too early.
2. Step 2Report within 2 business days — use SPU's online form or call (206) 684-3000.
3. Step 3SPU re-collects within 24 hours of receiving the report. You don't need to do anything else; just put the cart back out.

Beyond the cart

Special-item pickup — couches, fridges, TVs, batteries

Anything too big or hazardous for the cart goes through Special Item Pickup. SPU collects large furniture, large and small electronics, appliances, TVs, CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs), household batteries (AA / AAA / C / D / button / removable rechargeable), small propane canisters, foam blocks, older refrigerators and freezers, and cooking and motor oil.

Not accepted: car batteries, e-scooter batteries, and e-bike batteries. Those need separate handling.

New April 2026: single-family households get one free battery pickup per year (up to two 1-gallon bags) plus one free Special Item Box per year. After the free quota: $5 per battery pickup, $20 per Special Item Box. Appliance and furniture pricing varies by item and shows on your combined utility bill — the price is given when you schedule.

How to schedule: online via MyUtilities (myutilities.seattle.gov → Special Item Pickup) or by calling (206) 684-3000 weekdays 7:30 AM to 6 PM. Pickup happens on your next regular garbage collection day after you schedule. Set items out by 7:00 AM at your normal setout location, on a flat surface accessible from the street.

Apartments: residents can't self-schedule because the property manager or building owner is the SPU billpayer. Talk to your manager; they'll arrange the pickup.

Honest take: The annual free quota that started April 2026 is new. Most residents still expect to pay for a Special Item Box pickup — they don't. Use the free annual battery pickup and Special Item Box before the calendar year flips and they reset.

Food + yard

Yard waste — what goes in, what doesn't

Yard debris and food scraps — meat, dairy, fish, fruit, vegetables — go together in the SPU-provided yard-waste cart. Food waste is allowed only in the city cart, not in extra units of any kind. For specific items, the canonical answer is SPU's Where Does It Go? lookup.

When the cart is full: store food waste for the next collection or remove some yard waste to make room. Do not overflow into other containers — extra units only take yard debris.

Extra unit options (yard debris only, per-unit fee $7.50, max 60 lbs):

• A 32-gallon can labeled “yard waste”
• Bundles tied with natural fiber twine (no wire, nylon, or plastic banding), max 4 ft long by 2 ft diameter
• Approved compostable bags
• Kraft paper bags
• Reusable polyethylene yard-waste bags

Free November leaf pickup: extra yard-waste fees are waived November 1–30. Households already on regular food-and-yard service can put out up to 10 extra bags per collection day at no charge.

Schedule changes

Holidays and weather

Holiday shifts are address-specific in Seattle — there's no master “holiday X means pickup slides Y” rule on seattle.gov. The calendar widget shows your household's actual holiday-week dates. Check it before each major holiday rather than guessing from the previous year.

Weather delays are different. The calendar widget does not reflect snow, ice, or wind delays. Those land on SPU's At Your Service blog as live updates — the place to look on a snowy Monday is the blog, not the calendar.

Container problems

Cart broken or missing

Report it through SPU's missing-or-damaged form or by phone. The form asks for the cause — damaged-by-hauler replacements are typically free, and theft replacements may carry a fee. Either way, SPU's the right party to start with.

Multi-family + SHA

Apartments and special cases

SPU services apartment-building dumpsters, but the property manager or building owner is the SPU billpayer — not individual residents. That means scheduling, complaints, and special-item pickups all go through the manager first. They contact SPU; SPU sends the truck.

Seattle Housing Authority tenants are the exception inside the exception: SHA handles its own garbage and yard waste, not SPU. If you're an SHA tenant, the SPU lookup tools and forms above don't apply to you — go through SHA.

Honest take: The Utility Discount Program reduces your base utility rates and gives a discount on Special Item Pickup. The income cutoff is generous and most close-to-threshold households don't apply — they should. Apply online; approval takes a few weeks. Contact UDP at (206) 684-0268 or UDP@seattle.gov.

Direct lines

SPU phone numbers

The general (206) 684-3000 line covers most household questions. The other lines below exist for specific situations — save the 24-hour emergency line if nothing else.