A public resource guide
Every legitimate way to get rid of furniture, appliances, mattresses, and bulk waste in Austin, including the new on-demand bulk pickup system launched January 2025, three free collections per service per year, the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center, and what to do when paid hauling isn't an option.
Last updated: May 2026 · Maintained by Freemoval as a public resource
Austin's bulk system changed materially in January 2025, Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) moved from a predetermined biannual schedule to on-demand collection with up to 3 appointments per service type per calendar year. New on-demand household hazardous waste pickup launched the same day. This page walks through every option in order from free to paid, including the strict 5+ unit cutoff that excludes most apartment buildings.
Start here
What brings you to this page today?
On this page
Austin residents have on-demand bulk pickup (3x per year), on-demand brush pickup (3x per year), on-demand household hazardous waste pickup (3x per year, new in 2025), the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center, and donation pickup programs. Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) serves single-family homes and multifamily properties with 4 units or fewer. Multifamily units with 5+ units must use a private hauler.
On-demand bulk pickup (3x per year)
Free, 3x/yearAustin's on-demand bulk pickup launched January 2025, replacing the old biannual schedule. Each service address can schedule up to 3 bulk collections per calendar year, plus 3 brush and 3 HHW collections separately. Schedule through the Austin Recycles app, online, or by calling 3-1-1 (512-974-2000).
Eligibility: Austin Resource Recovery residential customers, single-family homes and multifamily properties with 4 units or fewer. 5+ unit buildings excluded.
Annual limit: 3 bulk collections per calendar year per service address. Resets January 1.
How to schedule: Austin Recycles app, austintexas.gov, or call 3-1-1 (512-974-2000). The system tells you which items can be collected and you select what you're setting out. Email confirmation provided.
Three separate piles required: Pile 1: Metal items and rigid plastics (appliances with doors removed, electronics). Pile 2: Non-metal items (carpeting, nail-free lumber). Pile 3: Passenger car tires (rims removed, limit 8 per household).
Set-out time: Place at curb by 5:30 AM on appointment date. 5 feet from carts, mailbox, fences, water meter, telephone box, fire hydrants, parked cars.
Critical rule: Do not put items in bags, boxes, or containers. Bagged items are treated as extra trash and incur fees. Items not collected by 4 PM, call 311 within 2 business days.
Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center
Free, by appointmentAustin's Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center accepts electronics, household hazardous waste (HHW), and hard-to-recycle items at no charge for residents. The center also has a free items area where the public can pick up reusable materials. Appointments required.
What's accepted: Electronics (TVs, computers, peripherals), household hazardous waste (paint, chemicals, batteries, motor oil), hard-to-recycle items.
How to use: Make an appointment at austintexas.gov/drop-off-center. Open to all Austin and Travis County residents.
Free items: The center has a public pickup area for items dropped off in good condition (paint, building materials, household goods). No appointment needed for this.
Freemoval (partner-community pickups)
FreeFreemoval is a social impact program that subsidizes free junk removal pickups in partner communities, typically affordable housing properties and select municipal partnerships. Austin partner expansion is in progress for 2026.
Eligibility: Households in active partner communities. Ask your property manager whether your building participates.
Status in Austin: Onboarding partner properties throughout 2026.
Donation-pickup programs
FreeAustin-area nonprofits offer free pickup for items in usable condition.
The Salvation Army: Free pickup of clothing, furniture, household items. Schedule at satruck.org or call 1-800-SA-TRUCK.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore: Multiple Austin-area locations. Pickup for furniture, appliances, building materials.
Goodwill Central Texas: Donation pickup for larger items in the Austin metro area.
Pay-as-you-throw model. Austin charges residents based on the size of their brown trash cart only, the blue recycling cart and green compost cart are included at no extra charge in any size. Four trash cart sizes available. Smaller cart = lower monthly bill.
Weekly trash and composting. Trash is collected weekly in the brown cart (must be bagged and tied). Composting is collected weekly on the same day as trash, in the green cart. Austin's green cart program is unusually generous, commercial-temperature processing accepts all food scraps including meat, bones, seafood, and dairy, items that backyard compost can't handle.
Bi-weekly recycling. Recycling is collected every other week in the blue cart. Loose, never bagged.
Composting can shrink your trash bill. Once you start composting food scraps in the green cart, most households find their brown cart is less than half full each week. Downsizing from 96-gallon to 48-gallon or smaller is typically free, call (512) 494-9400 to request a cart exchange. ARR requires recycling capacity to equal or exceed trash capacity when requesting additional carts.
5+ unit cutoff. Buildings with 5 or more units (apartments, condos, dorms, assisted living) must use a licensed private hauler for trash. As of October 1, 2024, multifamily properties in Austin are required to also provide residents with convenient access to composting collection.
Holiday schedule. Only New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas cause collection delays in Austin. All other holidays are normal service days.
Weather suspensions. Freezing temperatures, high winds over 35 mph, or flooding can suspend collection. Austin's February 2021 winter storm and subsequent severe-weather events have made this a more frequent occurrence.
App and reminders. Use the Austin Recycles app or My Schedule at austintexas.gov for personalized collection calendars, reminders, and the “What Do I Do With” tool to look up specific items.
Austin's donation programs accept items in good usable condition: clean upholstered furniture without significant tears or stains, working appliances less than 10 years old, mattresses in good condition (subject to program-specific rules), kitchenware, lamps, and most household goods.
Items typically not accepted: damaged or stained furniture, mattresses with bedbug history or significant wear, appliances that don't work, particle-board furniture in poor condition, cribs (federal safety regulations have changed), and exercise equipment that requires reassembly. Always call before scheduling if you're unsure, pickups that find unacceptable items will leave them behind.
For households who exceed 3 free bulk collections per year, can't wait for the next available appointment, or live in 5+ unit buildings (excluded from city service), paid options are available. Note: bagged items at curb during on-demand pickup get treated as extra trash and incur additional fees, comparison-shop carefully.
LoadUp paid pickup
$80+For households who need same-week service, exceed 3 annual ARR collections, or live in 5+ unit buildings (excluded from city pickup), LoadUp offers professional removal in Austin with upfront pricing. Independent loaders in the marketplace handle pickup, loading, and licensed disposal.
What's included: Loading, hauling, and licensed disposal. No prep needed beyond pointing out what goes.
Pricing: Starts around $80 for a single item; full-truck pickups range from $300 to $600 depending on volume.
Other paid services in Austin: 1-800-Got-Junk, College Hunks Hauling Junk, Junk King, comparison-shop for larger jobs.
If you can pay for a pickup, your booking helps fund free pickups for someone else. Every paid LoadUp customer can opt in to round up at checkout, and 100% of round-ups go directly to Freemoval’s subsidized jobs.
Book an Austin pickup with LoadUp → Round-up option appears at checkout. Optional, opt-in only.
Different items have different rules in Austin. Here's a quick reference for the most common things people need to dispose of.
Austin offers two free HHW disposal options for residents. On-demand HHW pickup launched January 2025, up to 3 collections per year via the Austin Recycles app or 3-1-1. The Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center accepts HHW year-round by appointment. Several retailers also offer ongoing free recycling: Home Depot for batteries and CFL bulbs, AutoZone for motor oil and car batteries, Best Buy for electronics, and most pharmacies for unused medications.
To report illegal dumping in Austin, call 3-1-1 (512-974-2000) or use the Austin 3-1-1 app. Reports can also be filed at austintexas.gov. Include the location, description of dumped material, and a photo if possible. Austin code enforcement actively investigates dumping reports. If you're considering dumping because you can't afford a haul, please use the free on-demand pickup, the system is genuinely flexible (3 collections per year per type), and the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center handles items the curbside pickup doesn't accept.
Is there really free junk removal in Austin?
Yes, Austin's on-demand pickup system launched January 2025 gives each service address up to 3 free bulk collections per calendar year, plus 3 brush collections and 3 household hazardous waste collections separately. Schedule through the Austin Recycles app, austintexas.gov, or call 3-1-1. The Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center also accepts electronics, hazardous waste, and hard-to-recycle items free for residents (by appointment). Donation pickup through Salvation Army, Habitat ReStore, and Goodwill is also free for usable items.
How is Austin's on-demand bulk pickup different from the old system?
Before January 2025, Austin Resource Recovery operated bulk and brush pickup on a predetermined biannual schedule, you waited up to 6 months for the next collection. The on-demand system lets you schedule when you actually have items to dispose of. Each service type (bulk, brush, HHW) has its own 3-per-year allowance, and they reset January 1. The change also added on-demand HHW pickup as a new service.
Why are there three separate piles for bulk pickup?
Austin's on-demand bulk system separates items by destination to maximize recycling. Pile 1 (metal items and rigid plastics) goes to metal recycling. Pile 2 (non-metal items like carpet and nail-free lumber) goes to landfill. Pile 3 (passenger car tires, rims removed, max 8) goes to tire recycling. Different trucks may pick up at different times throughout the day. If items are not collected by 4 PM, call 3-1-1 within 2 business days. Don't put items in bags, boxes, or containers, that gets treated as extra trash and incurs fees.
How do I qualify for Freemoval in Austin?
Freemoval works through partner communities, typically affordable housing operators, public housing authorities, and select municipal partnerships. We’re actively expanding partnerships in Austin through 2026. If your property is part of the program, your property manager will provide a booking code. If you operate housing or work in a city department in Austin, contact us to discuss adding your community.
I live in an apartment building with 5+ units. What are my options?
Austin Resource Recovery only serves single-family homes and multifamily properties with 4 units or fewer. Buildings with 5+ units must use a licensed private hauler for trash. As of October 1, 2024, multifamily properties in Austin are required to also provide residents with composting collection access, ask your property manager. For bulk disposal, your options are: ask your building’s hauler, take items to the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center (open to all Austin/Travis County residents), or use a paid hauler. This gap is exactly why Freemoval exists.
Can I really compost meat and bones in Austin?
Yes, Austin's curbside composting program processes food scraps at a commercial composting facility that reaches extremely high temperatures, allowing it to accept items backyard compost piles cannot: raw & cooked meat, poultry, seafood, bones, shellfish, dairy products, food-soiled paper (napkins, paper towels, pizza boxes, paper cups). Use a BPI-certified compostable bag or paper bag, never plastic bags, even compostable ones.
How do I report illegal dumping in Austin?
Call 3-1-1 (512-974-2000) or use the Austin 3-1-1 app. Reports can also be filed at austintexas.gov. Include location, description of dumped material, and a photo if possible.
Is this page maintained?
Yes. Freemoval maintains this page as a public resource. We update it when programs change rules, fees, or contact methods. Last updated May 2026. If you find outdated information, let us know.
Freemoval is actively onboarding Austin partner properties through 2026. Reach out to prioritize your community.
Start a partnership conversation