Denver Large Item Pickup: What Qualifies, and What to Do When It Doesn't.
By Darius Schultz, owner · Updated
If your home is on Denver's city trash service, the city will haul up to 5 large items and 10 bags from your curb or alley every nine weeks, on your normal trash day, at no separate charge. For a couch or an old dresser, that is the best deal in town and you should use it. This guide covers the rules as the city writes them, what it refuses and where each of those things goes instead, and the jobs where paying someone is worth it. We are a junk removal business, so our price is in here too, near the end. Everything about the city program here was checked in October 2026 against the city's Large Item Pickup page.
What is large item pickup in Denver?
It is Denver's free collection of bulky things that are safe to throw away but will not fit in a trash cart. Denver Solid Waste Management collects up to 5 large items and 10 bags from each service address every nine weeks, on your regular trash day. The city lists no separate fee for it, so if what you have qualifies and can wait, use it.
Think couches, dressers, rugs, exercise equipment, large toys, non-electric bikes, bundled branches and bagged mattresses. You carry it all out yourself and have it visible by 6 a.m. on your date, and the city collects it from there. Appliances, electronics, construction materials and hazardous waste are refused, and each of those has its own route, covered further down.
What is the schedule for large item pickup in the City of Denver?
Every nine weeks, on the same day as your regular trash and recycling collection. Your exact date is tied to your service address. Enter it on the city's Large Item Pickup page or in the free Denver Trash and Recycling app, then look for the Large Item entry on the calendar view.
Sign up for reminders. The city's schedule page and the app both offer them, which is worth doing, because nine weeks is long enough to forget.
Holidays push it back one day. When an observed holiday falls on or before your trash day that week, collection moves one day later for the rest of that week only. The last two observed holidays of 2026 are Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26, and Christmas, Friday, December 25. Working holidays like Veterans Day do not move anything.
No computer handy? Call 311, or (720) 913-1311 from outside Denver.
Sources: Denver Large Item Pickup (nine-week cycle, calendar lookup), checked October 2026; Denver Collection Schedules and Guidelines (reminders, holidays, 311), checked September 26, 2026.
What are the rules for large item pickup in Denver?
Have everything out by 6 a.m. on your collection day, visible and at least 2 feet from your carts, cars, poles and other obstructions. The limit is 5 large items and up to 10 bags per service address, in bags no larger than 32 gallons and no heavier than 50 pounds. Appliances, electronic waste, construction materials, automotive materials, hazardous materials, commercial and industrial waste, and loose trash are excluded. Here is every rule, in the city's own terms.
| Rule | What the city says |
|---|---|
| Who gets it | Homes on Denver's city trash service: single-family homes and residential buildings of 7 units or fewer. Denver Housing Authority residents set large items out only on the scheduled Large Item days. |
| How often | Every nine weeks, on your normal trash day |
| How much | A maximum of 5 large items and up to 10 bags per service address |
| Bags | No larger than 32 gallons and no heavier than 50 pounds. No cardboard boxes or non-city containers. |
| When | Everything out by 6 a.m. on your collection day |
| Where | Visible, and at least 2 feet from your carts, cars, poles and other obstructions |
| Mattresses | Mattresses and box springs must be bagged and wrapped |
| Branches | Tied bundles no longer than 4 feet, no thicker than 4 inches, no heavier than 50 pounds; up to 10 bundles |
| Any other day | Setting large items out at other times is considered illegal dumping |
| Cost | No separate fee is listed. It comes with Denver's trash service, which is billed by the size of your trash cart. |
What the City Accepts
Bulky things that are safe to throw away but will not fit in a cart. The city's list:
- Furniture
- Large toys
- Non-electric bicycles
- Rugs
- Exercise equipment
- Bundled branches, no more than 4 ft long and 4 inches thick
- Mattresses and box springs, bagged and wrapped
What It Won't Take
Left at the curb, these stay at the curb. The city's list:
- Electronic waste
- Construction materials, including concrete, bricks, fencing and pallets
- Automotive materials
- Unbundled branches, stumps, dirt and sod
- Commercial and industrial waste
- Hazardous materials, including paint, batteries and tires
- Appliances
- Loose trash
Hot tubs are not on the accepted list either.
Sources: Denver Large Item Pickup (schedule, limits, set-out rules, accepted and refused items), checked October 2026; Denver Trash and Trash, Recycle & Compost (who the city serves, billing, branch bundles), checked September 26, 2026.
Where Denver Sends Everything Else.
Most of what Large Item Pickup refuses still has a free or cheap city route. These are the ones Denver runs, for Denver residents.
| Item | City route | Cost and catch |
|---|---|---|
| Appliances | Appliance Collection, by appointment through 311: stoves, water heaters, furnaces, dishwashers, microwaves, fridges, freezers, air conditioners, washers and dryers | Free for homes on city trash service. Xcel Energy customers can earn a $50 rebate by recycling a fridge through Xcel instead. |
| TVs, computers, electronics | E-cycle Coupon for a discounted drop-off at Blue Star Recyclers | One coupon per household per year, drop-off only. Colorado has banned TVs, monitors and computers from landfills since July 1, 2013. |
| Paint, chemicals, batteries | Household Hazardous Waste At-Your-Door, free paint recycling, battery disposal | Free or low cost for Denver residents |
| Extra recycling, compost, small branches | Cherry Creek Recycling and Compost Drop-off, 7400 Cherry Creek S Dr | Free, Denver residents with proof of address. Branches up to 4 ft and 4 inches. No trailers, no dirt or sod. |
| Leaves, holiday trees | LeafDrop in the fall, Treecycle after the holidays | Seasonal drop-off sites |
| Stumps, big branches | None. The city says these are the resident's to remove. | Hire it out or haul it to a private facility |
| Remodel debris | None. The city's cart rules say no construction, demolition or remodeling material in trash either. | A private transfer station for a fee, a dumpster, or a hauler |
Sources: Appliance Collection, Electronic Recycling, Household Hazardous Waste, Cherry Creek Drop-off, Seasonal Programs, Collection Guidelines, all checked September 26, 2026. Not sure which bin something goes in? Denver's Waste Directory lets you search by item.
Set It Out on the Wrong Day and It Counts as Dumping.
The city's words: "Only set out large items during your scheduled Large Item Pickup collection. Setting items out on other times is considered illegal dumping." So the couch on the curb a week early, waiting for someone to grab it, is the thing to avoid. So is a mattress leaned against an alley dumpster.
Denver's environmental health fine schedule lists illegal dumping and unlawful disposal under Denver code section 48-47, with a $150 minimum and a maximum of $5,000 per violation per day. That is reason enough to keep things in the garage until the morning of your date.
Miss your date? The next one is nine weeks later. If you set out on the right day, followed the rules and it was not picked up, call 311.
Sources: Denver Large Item Pickup; Denver DDPHE fine schedule (updated February 2022); missed pickups. Checked September 26, 2026.
Donate It First If It Still Has Life.
Furniture that goes out on Large Item day is headed for disposal. Nationally, the EPA counted 12.1 million tons of furniture and furnishings thrown out in 2018, and 80.1 percent of it was landfilled. If a piece is clean and sturdy, giving it away first is the better outcome, and it is often free.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore picks up donations free anywhere in its Metro Denver range when you schedule online; booking by phone adds a $25 service charge. Standard pickups come in 2 to 3 business days, Tuesday through Saturday. The drivers do not come inside, because of the ReStore's insurance, so the items wait outside or in the garage. Its partner service, ReSupplyMe, offers a priority pickup that can come in the house. Appliances must work, and each one that may contain Freon carries a $20 handling fee. ReStore does not take mattresses, electronics, non-working appliances or paint.
Denver's Waste Directory also points to donation options by item. A free listing on a neighborhood app is another way to give a decent couch away. Hand it over from the garage, not the curb.
For the record, most of what we haul goes to an STS transfer station. A good-condition piece sometimes goes to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, but if donating matters to you, do it before we come.
Sources: Habitat Metro Denver ReStore, Donate; EPA, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data (2018 data). Checked September 26, 2026.
What the Dump Charges When You Drive It There.
If you own a pickup and have one load, taking it yourself is the cheapest paid option, and it has no nine-week wait. Denver lists private drop-off sites that take household trash and large items for a fee. Here are the posted rates at the two STS transfer stations, where most of our loads go, and at the Foothills Landfill near Golden.
| Facility | Pickup load | Extras and rules |
|---|---|---|
| STS North, 3711 E 54th Ave, Denver | $65 to bed level, $75 to the cab, $85 above the cab; or $75 a ton, 1-ton minimum | Takes furniture and mattresses. No tires or electronics. Uncovered loads pay double. Lower introductory prices were also posted. |
| STS South, 1600 W Harvard Ave, Englewood | $75 to bed level, $85 to the cab, $95 above the cab; or $85 a ton, 1-ton minimum | Same rules as North |
| Foothills Landfill (2026 gate sheet) | $105 for a pickup filled to the top of the cab, about $134 with the landfill's own fees | $55 per mattress or box spring on top of the load price. Freon appliances $77. Uncovered loads pay double. |
The honest point in that table: a pickup pays per trip, not per item. One couch in the bed costs the same gate fee as a full bed. That is why self-hauling one item rarely beats the free city day, and why it wins when you have a truck, a full load and a free Saturday.
The same math is why no honest hauler will do a real load for pocket change. Every run starts with a gate fee, $65 to $105 for a pickup at the posted rates above, before labor, fuel or the truck. A low advertised price can be fair for one small item at the curb. It is not a real price for a garage.
Sources: STS North and STS South posted pricing; Tower and Foothills Landfills 2026 gate pricing; Denver's list of private drop-off facilities. Checked September 26, 2026. These are the facilities' rates, not ours, and they change; call ahead.
Golden, Wheat Ridge and the West Metro Are Different.
Denver's program is for Denver city trash customers only, and some homes with a Denver mailing address sit outside the city. Each suburb runs its own program, or none, and our city pages explain each one from the city's own site:
- Golden: one free large item pickup a year for households on the city's Pay-As-You-Throw program.
- Arvada: a prepaid, scheduled curbside bulk pickup, plus drop-off days.
- Edgewater: its own Large Item Pick Up, twice a month.
- Wheat Ridge: a free drop-off day, next listed for May 15, 2027, where you unload your own items.
- Lakewood and Westminster: no city large item program; your private trash hauler's rules apply.
- Thornton runs Click & Haul, Broomfield a Spring Cleanup, Federal Heights a Large Item Clean-Up, and Highlands Ranch the HRCA's Clear the Clutter drop-off.
Each city page cites its own source and date. Programs change year to year, so check the city's page before you haul anything out.
Large Trash Pickup in Denver Between City Pickups
When people search for large trash pickup in Denver, they usually mean bulk items the city's cycle won't cover: a couch that missed this round and can't sit in the garage for nine weeks, more than the 5 items and 10 bags the city takes, or something on the refused list, like remodel debris or a hot tub. If your pile fits the city's rules and can wait, use the free program. It is the better deal.
When it doesn't fit, a hauler is the better choice: $149 for the first 2 cubic yards, then $75 a yard, no travel or dump fees, often today, never promised. See how junk removal in Denver works, or the full pricing page. Paying someone earns its price when one of these is true.
A move-out, a closing, a new couch arriving Saturday. See move-out cleanouts and how same day works.
A garage, a basement or a whole house is weeks of curb days. See garage, basement and estate cleanouts.
The city collects from your set-out spot, so you do the carrying. A sleeper sofa or a king mattress set on steep bungalow stairs is the part people pay to skip. See furniture and mattress removal.
Drywall, cabinets, tile and fencing are refused on Large Item day and in the cart. See construction debris removal.
Not on the city's list, and too heavy to load whole. See hot tub removal and a real hot tub job.
Buildings over 7 units use a private hauler, so ask your property manager first. Past that, the dead fridge in the basement that no free program will carry up is our kind of job; see appliance removal.
How much is trash pickup in Denver?
Large Item Pickup costs nothing extra. The city's Large Item Pickup page lists no separate fee, and Denver bills it with your regular trash service. For current trash service rates, check the city's Trash page. When the city won't take it or you can't wait, a hauler is the paid alternative.
Ours is $149 for the first 2 cubic yards, then $75 a yard. A cubic yard is 3 x 3 x 3 feet. No travel fee, no fuel fee, no dump fee. Stairs, long carries and heavy material are the only extras, and you approve the price on site before we start.
| What you have | Usual size | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One couch, or a mattress and box spring | Up to 2 yd | $149 |
| A big couch or a sectional | 3 to 4 yd | $224 to $299 |
| A fridge or freezer | Up to 2 yd | $149 + $50 refrigerant = $199 |
| A full 1-car garage | 6 to 8 yd | $449 to $599 |
| A basement cleanout | 4 to 10 yd | $299 to $749 |
| A hot tub | The tub's yards + $150 to $250 by access | From $349 |
Stairs are $25 a flight, a carry over 100 ft is $40, heavy material like tile or brick is $25 a yard extra, and tires are $15 each. Every extra is written down before we start. We don't take dirt or sod, and a water heater or carpet needs to be disconnected or pulled up first. The full table is on the pricing page, and the Denver junk removal cost guide explains why. Comparing haulers? Read how to choose a junk removal company.
Denver Large Item Pickup Questions.
What is large item pickup in Denver?
What is the schedule for large item pickup in the City of Denver?
What is the maximum for Large Item Pickup?
Does Denver pick up appliances?
Can I put a mattress out for Large Item Pickup?
What if I miss my Large Item Pickup date?
Will Denver take a hot tub?
How much is trash pickup in Denver?
Do apartments get Denver Large Item Pickup?
Sources
Large Item Pickup page rechecked October 2026; the others reviewed September 26, 2026. Every rule above comes from these pages. City programs and gate rates change, so check the source before you plan around it.
- City and County of Denver: Large Item Pickup (schedule, limits, set-out rules, accepted and refused items, illegal dumping rule, private drop-off list)
- Denver: Trash, Recycle & Compost (who the city serves: 7 units or fewer)
- Denver: Trash (billing by cart size, branch bundles, stumps)
- Denver: Collection Schedules and Guidelines (holiday delays, missed pickups, no remodel material in trash)
- Denver: Appliance Collection
- Denver: Electronic Recycling (E-cycle Coupon, Colorado landfill ban, SB 12-133)
- Denver: Household Hazardous Waste
- Denver: Cherry Creek Recycling and Compost Drop-off
- Denver: Seasonal Programs (LeafDrop, Treecycle)
- Denver: DOTI Affordability Rebate Programs
- Denver DDPHE: Fine Schedule (illegal dumping, code 48-47, updated February 2022)
- Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver: ReStore donations
- US EPA: Durable Goods, Product-Specific Data (furniture and furnishings, 2018)
- STS North Denver and STS South Denver posted pricing
- Tower and Foothills Landfills: 2026 gate pricing
Where To Go From Here.
Every way to get rid of a mattress in Denver, from free to full service.
The couch-and-dresser math, and the free routes worth trying first.
How far into Denver the truck goes, and what Denver jobs look like.
All our junk removal guides.
Too Big, Too Much, or Too Soon?
Text a photo of what the city won't take. You get a price back by text, usually within 10 minutes during business hours, and you approve it on site before anything is lifted.
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