What's My Trash Day?
Search your address for the trash and recycling days the City has on file for it, the next collections, and the hours your barrels may be at the kerb.
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Search your address for the trash and recycling days the City has on file for it, the next collections, and the hours your barrels may be at the kerb.
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Boston sets the trash day address by address — the two ends of one street can differ, and the densest neighbourhoods are collected twice a week. Search your address for the days the City has on file for it, the next collections, and the hours your barrels are allowed to be at the kerb.
The City’s own lookup is the last word
Crews start at 6 a.m., so anything put out later can sit until the next collection. Trash goes in a barrel with a tight lid, or in bags of at least 2-ply (0.9 mm) plastic; a barrel over 32 gallons needs wheels and a grab bar.
Recycling is collected on the same day as your trash, and if your address is collected twice a week it goes out both days. Paper, cardboard, metal, glass and plastic containers all go in the one blue bin or cart — loose, not in a plastic bag. In a building of six units or fewer you can ask the City for a 65-gallon blue cart at no charge.
In a week with a City holiday, the City says trash and recycling are delayed in some neighbourhoods — but not which ones, and not by how much. So a collection in a holiday week is flagged here rather than moved. Check the City's own lookup or the Trash Day app that week. Evacuation Day, Bunker Hill Day and Veterans Day are City holidays that do not change collection.
These are written as tickets, not warnings.
State law keeps fridges, freezers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, televisions and computer monitors out of the trash. Book a Special Item Collection with BOS:311 — dial 311 or call 617-635-4500 — up to 5 items per appointment and 10 a year. Nothing is collected without an appointment. Mattresses and box springs are a separate booking: the City recycles them at no charge for buildings of six units or fewer. Furniture, exercise equipment and construction debris are on neither list, so ask 311 before you leave one at the kerb.
Around two-thirds of Boston leases turn over on September 1 and the kerbs fill up. Your own collection day does not change that week, and the $25 early set-out ticket still applies to everything put out before 5 p.m. the night before. If you're moving out, book a mattress or appliance pickup well ahead — appointments are limited, and a mattress left at the kerb without one is illegal dumping.
If the truck passed you by and your barrels were out in time, report it to BOS:311 (dial 311, or 617-635-4500). Bring the barrels back in meanwhile — trash left at the kerb after collection is its own violation.
Address and schedule data: City of Boston, from Analyze Boston (data.boston.gov). Open Data Commons PDDL — public domain.
Source: City of Boston — Trash Schedules by Address (Analyze Boston), with the set-out, fine and holiday rules from boston.gov, checked 26 July 2026 (3 days ago).
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