Denver Trash Pickup Schedule: How to Find Your Day, Recycling and Compost Rules and Holiday Changes

If you just bought a house in Platt Park, Hampden or University Hills, your Denver trash pickup schedule is one of the first things you need to sort out, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Denver runs its own collection service for homes and small buildings, while Englewood, Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village are separate cities that handle trash their own way. This guide walks through how to look up your day, what each cart costs, what goes in the purple and green carts, how large item pickup works and what happens around holidays.

Everything below comes from the City and County of Denver and the city governments just south of it, plus local news reporting on recent changes, with dates so you can tell how current each fact is. Rules change, so treat the city’s own lookup tool as the final word for your address.

How Do I Look Up My Denver Trash Pickup Schedule?

Denver Solid Waste Management serves your home if you live inside the City and County of Denver in a building with seven or fewer units. Bigger buildings are treated as commercial and hire a private hauler, according to Denverite’s January 2023 guide to the current pricing system.

To find your day, the city points residents to denvergov.org/TrashSchedule, where you can sign up for reminders on the Denver Trash and Recycling app or the matching web calendar. The city’s November 2024 fact sheet on service changes, shared by the Congress Park Neighbors association, gives the same address. Type in your street address and the calendar view shows every upcoming collection: trash, recycling, compost and large item days.

A few tips that save headaches:

• Turn on the reminders. Recycling runs every other week, and it is easy to lose track of which week you are on.
• Check the calendar the week before any holiday, since holiday shifts show up there.
• If you just closed on a home, look up your new address right away. Your day can differ from a house a few blocks over.
• If you cannot use the app, call 311 and the city can tell you your schedule.

The same weekday covers everything. Under the city’s Rules and Regulations for trash, recycling and compost, effective January 9 2025 and posted with the city’s Trash, Recycle and Compost pages, trash and compost are picked up weekly and recyclables every other week. Large items follow your regular day once every nine weeks.

What Does Denver Trash Pickup Cost by Cart Size?

Since January 2023, Denver has billed households based on the size of their trash cart, a system often called pay as you throw. The city’s 2025 rules list the fees this way:

Trash cart	Size	Monthly fee	Holds about
Small	35 gallons	$9	3 bags a week
Medium	65 gallons	$13	5 bags a week
Large	95 gallons	$21	8 bags a week

The fees come from Section VI of the 2025 rules; the bag counts come from Denverite’s January 2023 guide. If no size is chosen, you pay the small cart minimum. Recycling and compost carts carry no separate fee, and opting out of them does not lower your bill, Denverite reported.

You pay through a Denver Utilities Online account or by check when the invoice arrives by mail. Households that need help can apply for a rebate based on income and household size, according to the same Denverite guide. In shared setups such as a duplex using one cart, the unit holding the cart pays for its size and the other units pay the $9 minimum.

Expect the price to move. In September 2026, Hoodline reported that Denver households still pay between $9 and $21 a month, but the program runs about $9.9 million short each year, a trash rate study is needed by 2027, and no new rate or effective date had been announced. If you are budgeting for a new home, use today’s fees and watch for a change after that study.

To switch cart sizes, request it through your Denver Utilities Online account or call 311. The new fee starts when the new cart arrives.

What Goes in the Purple Recycling and Green Compost Carts?

Denver uses three carts: one for trash, a purple one for recycling and a green one for compost. The rules that trip up most new residents are simple once you know them.

Trash cart

All trash must be bagged before it goes in the cart, using bags of 32 gallons or less that are tied shut, under the 2025 rules. The city’s Cart Set Out and Service Guidelines say overfilled, stuffed or too heavy carts cannot be emptied, and overflow trash left beside the cart is not collected. If you keep running out of room, a bigger cart is the fix.

Purple recycling cart

Do not bag your recycling. The cart guidelines say to put recyclables in loose, and the Colorado Sun reported in July 2025 that flimsy plastic film such as garbage bags is not recyclable and jams the sorting machines. Recycling has been collected every other week since January 2025. Households that fill their recycling cart each time can ask for a second one, an option the city began filling in April 2025 according to its service change fact sheet.

Green compost cart

Compost is weekly and free for Denver Solid Waste customers who sign up. The city sped up its compost rollout so every remaining customer could get a cart in early 2025, nine months ahead of the first plan, per the November 2024 fact sheet. If you do not have a green cart yet, request one through Denver Utilities Online or 311.

Yard trimmings, fruit and vegetable scraps and leftover food are the core of what goes in. The list just got longer: on October 2, 2026, Denverite reported that Denver residents can now put food soiled paper, such as a greasy pizza box, in the compost. That reverses earlier guidance the Colorado Sun described in 2025, when napkins, paper plates and pizza boxes were still off limits. Bags in the green cart are optional, and if you use them they must be certified compostable bags, the cart guidelines say.

Denver has leaned on education rather than penalties. The Colorado Sun reported that residents usually get 20 to 25 notices before any enforcement and that the city was not fining anyone as of July 2025, though carts can be taken away after repeated contamination.

When and Where Do I Put My Carts Out?

The set out time moved earlier. The city’s current Cart Set Out and Service Guidelines ask you to have carts out by 6 a.m. on your collection day and no earlier than 7 p.m. the night before. Trucks will not come back for carts set out late. Bring carts back onto your property within a day after collection.

Placement matters because Denver empties most carts with automated trucks:

• Leave 2 feet of clearance on all sides of each cart.
• For curb pickup, set the cart in the street next to the curb with the front facing the street.
• For alley pickup, keep carts at least 4 feet from fences, cars, other containers and anything else in the way, facing the alley.
• Keep carts out from under low branches, garage overhangs and wires.

On other days your carts belong on your own property, not in the alley or the street. Some blocks have alley pickup and others use the front curb, so watch what your neighbors do before your first week.

How Does Large Item Pickup Work in Denver?

Large item pickup now comes every nine weeks, on your regular collection day. Find the date in the Trash and Recycling app calendar under Large Item. The city’s Large Item Pickup page sets these limits:

• Up to 5 large items and 10 bags per address.
• Bags no larger than 32 gallons and no heavier than 50 pounds.
• Branches bundled to no more than 4 feet long and 4 inches across.
• Mattresses and box springs bagged and wrapped.

Accepted items include furniture, large toys, bicycles that are not electric, rugs, exercise equipment, bundled branches and mattresses. Not accepted: electronics, appliances, construction material such as concrete, bricks, fencing and pallets, car parts, stumps, dirt, sod, paint, batteries, tires and loose trash. Have items out by 6 a.m., at least 2 feet from carts, cars and poles. The city treats large items set out on any other day as illegal dumping, so a move out sofa on the wrong week can bring a citation.

Appliances and electronics have their own city programs. Search the City of Denver site for its appliance, electronics and household hazardous waste options.

Leaves and pumpkins this fall

Through November 25, 2026, Denver’s LeafDrop program takes bagged leaves and pumpkins, the Denver Gazette reported on October 11, 2026. Leaves must be in paper bags, not plastic, with the tops rolled shut. Weekday drop off runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and weekend sites open November 7 and 8, 14 and 15, and 21 and 22. If you already have a green cart, leaves and pumpkins can go in it too. South Denver options include the Cherry Creek Transfer Station on weekdays and weekends, Veterans Park at South Vine Street and East Iowa Avenue on weekends, and Kennedy High School on weekends.

How Do Holidays Change the Denver Trash Schedule?

The short rule from Section III of the city’s 2025 regulations: service that falls on a city observed holiday may be delayed by one day. Since January 2022, Denver has kept Fridays open for catch up work, so a holiday usually slides the rest of the week back by a day instead of adding Saturday routes, Denverite explained in November 2025. The same report said Denver has six weeks a year with holiday collection changes.

Thanksgiving week is the big one. In 2025 there was no collection on Thanksgiving and city staff were on furlough the day after, so crews squeezed trash into a three day week: Monday customers had to set out by 6 a.m. Monday, Wednesday customers moved to Tuesday, and Thursday customers moved to Wednesday. Recycling and compost were skipped that week, compost resumed weekly the next week, and recycling dates shifted by one week through the end of 2025 and into 2026.

Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26. The city has not posted its 2026 holiday week plan in any source we could find as of October 22, 2026, so expect a change that week and check the app calendar the weekend before. Do the same before Christmas and New Year’s Day, and any time city furlough days are announced.

What Is Different in Englewood, Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village?

These are separate cities, not Denver neighborhoods, and Denver’s carts, fees and app do not apply there.

Englewood

The City of Englewood says plainly that it does not provide trash removal. Every household and business must have trash service from a licensed private hauler at least once a week. The city’s Trash and Litter page lists licensed trash haulers, including Republic Services, Summit Waste and Recycling, Waste Connections of Colorado and Waste Management. Containers must be covered, cannot go out front more than 24 hours before pickup, and must come back in within 24 hours after. Englewood looked at hiring one hauler for the whole city, but its council ended that effort on May 9, 2022, after a survey showed residents split, according to the city’s Talk n’ Trash project page. If you are buying a home in Englewood, plan to set up your own hauler account before move in.

Greenwood Village

The Greenwood Village Trash and Recycling page says Waste Connections provides residential trash and recycling to eligible homes. Carts go to the curb by 7 a.m., an hour later than Denver. Your schedule and reminders come from the Waste Connections website or app, and the hauler’s number is 303.288.2100. For large items, big branches, electronics or appliances, call Greenwood Village Public Works at 303.708.6100. Our guide to buying a home in Greenwood Village covers more of what to set up after closing.

Cherry Hills Village

Cherry Hills Village is outside Denver Solid Waste’s service area. The city keeps its own Residential Trash and Recycling Service page; check it, or ask your HOA or seller which hauler serves the home, before your first week. Note that the Cherry Hills Village Sanitation District handles sewer service, not trash.

A Quick Checklist for New South Denver Homeowners

• Denver address: Look up your day at denvergov.org/TrashSchedule, turn on app reminders, choose a trash cart size in Denver Utilities Online, and request a green compost cart if the home does not have one.
• Englewood address: Pick a licensed hauler from the city list and set up weekly service.
• Greenwood Village address: Download the Waste Connections app for your schedule and put carts out by 7 a.m.
• Cherry Hills Village address: Confirm your hauler through the city page, your HOA or the seller.
• Moving week: Do not put furniture on the curb unless it is your large item week in Denver. Plan a donation run or a hauler instead.

For the bigger picture on settling in, from utilities to neighborhoods, see our complete guide to moving to South Denver, and if you are still choosing a neighborhood, our guide to buying a home in Platt Park is a good place to start.

Frequently Asked Questions

What time do trash carts need to be out in Denver?

By 6 a.m. on your collection day, and no earlier than 7 p.m. the night before, under the city’s current Cart Set Out and Service Guidelines. Trucks will not return for late carts. Greenwood Village, served by Waste Connections, asks for carts by 7 a.m.

How much is the Denver trash fee for a small cart?

The small 35 gallon trash cart costs $9 a month, the medium 65 gallon cart $13 and the large 95 gallon cart $21, under the city’s 2025 rules. Hoodline reported in September 2026 that those fees still apply but a rate study is due by 2027.

Is Denver recycling pickup every week?

No. Since January 2025, Denver picks up recycling every other week, while trash and compost stay weekly. Your recycling weeks appear in the Denver Trash and Recycling app calendar, and households that fill the purple cart every time can request a second one.

Can I put a pizza box in my Denver compost cart?

Yes, as of October 2026. Denverite reported on October 2, 2026, that Denver now accepts food soiled paper such as greasy pizza boxes in the green compost cart, a change from 2025 guidance that kept them out.

How often is large item pickup in Denver?

Every nine weeks, on your regular collection day. You can set out up to 5 large items and 10 bags, but no appliances, electronics, construction debris or tires. Setting items out in any other week counts as illegal dumping.

Does Englewood have city trash pickup?

No. The City of Englewood does not provide trash removal. Every household must hire a licensed private hauler for at least weekly service, and the city’s Trash and Litter page lists the licensed companies, including Republic Services, Waste Connections and Waste Management.