Before paying anyone to haul in Chattanooga, know what the city will take from the curb for nothing. This is the plain-language version of the city's bulk pickup rules, the brush and bulky item pickup program; the official page is linked at the bottom and the limits change from time to time, so check it before you set anything out.
The city's collection is for single-family residents inside the city limits; apartment complexes, landlords and businesses are excluded. Red Bank, East Ridge, Collegedale and Soddy-Daisy are their own cities with their own rules, so which side of a city line you live on decides what your curb will take.
What curbside collection usually takes
- Household garbage in the city container on the weekly route.
- Brush and wood waste no longer than eight feet, no thicker than eighteen inches and piled no higher than four feet, at the street, clear of parked cars, mailboxes, water meters and overhead wires, and never in an alley.
- Bulky items on the property's scheduled collection week: grills, mattresses, heavy appliances, furniture, carpet and padding, water heaters, large toys and televisions, with a cap of twelve bulky collections per property in any twelve months.
What it usually will not take
- Building materials of every kind: lumber, drywall, tile, brick, concrete, insulation, glass and mirrors, railroad ties, pallets, dirt.
- Tires, auto parts, liquids, drums, propane and compressed gas tanks, and anything hot or hazardous.
- Cardboard boxes and recyclables, which belong in the recycling route or at the recycle centers.
- Anything from a business, an apartment complex or a landlord's turnover.
- Whole sheds, hot tubs, fence lines and playsets, which are lumber and building material once they come apart.
Where a junk crew fits in Chattanooga
Everything on the second list, plus anything past the twelve-a-year cap, anything that has to leave today, anything heavy, and anything upstairs, in a basement or behind the house. The quote names any part of your pile the city would take free on its next scheduled week, so you can leave that at the curb and pay only for the rest.
After a storm
After the Easter 2020 tornado the city and county ran debris passes through East Brainerd and Ooltewah for weeks, vegetation stacked at the curb separately from household trash. After an ordinary spring storm there is no special pass, only the regular brush route with its eight-foot and four-foot limits. The crew hauls what the route refuses, fence panels and roofing above all, and anything that has to move before the truck comes around.
Official pages
The city's brush and bulk page carries the current accepted and refused lists, the placement rules and the collection-week map. The city landfill on Birchwood Pike in Harrison takes household garbage from residents free in pickup-truck quantities but no construction debris, appliances or furniture, and the household hazardous waste facility takes oil-based paint, fuel, pesticides and batteries free from Tennessee residents, Tuesday to Saturday. The home page lists all three under Local resources.
Questions we get about this
How do I get the city of Chattanooga to pick up a couch?
If you live in a single-family home inside the city, set it at the street on your property's scheduled collection week, clear of cars, mailboxes and wires, and it is collected with the bulky items. There is a cap of twelve bulky pickups per address a year. If you rent in a complex, own the rental, or cannot wait for the week, a crew does it the same day.
Can I put a refrigerator out for city pickup?
Heavy appliances are on the city's accepted list for the scheduled bulky collection at single-family homes. The city landfill will not take appliances from residents driving them in, and the crew recovers the refrigerant before scrapping any fridge it hauls, which is the legal route either way.
Can drywall and lumber go in my household bin?
No. Lumber, drywall, tile, brick and concrete are refused at the curb and at the city landfill. Renovation debris goes to the private construction and demolition facility next to the landfill, by truck or by dumpster, and is charged by weight.