Trash & Recycling in Tennessee (2026)

Chattanooga City Code § 18-46 limits residential curbside pickup to non-hazardous, on-site garbage in approved…

Clarksville runs no residential garbage route and neither does Montgomery County. Households either pay a private…

Franklin residents may not set out their rollout container earlier than 7:00 p.m. the night before collection and must…

Hendersonville spells out exactly how trash goes to the curb: residential cans can't be loaded past 50 pounds…

Knox County runs no curbside garbage or recycling truck outside the incorporated cities: households haul trash…

Knoxville limits residential collection to one weekly cart pickup plus five bulky items, with recycling picked up every…

Memphis collects your green garbage cart and gray recycling cart weekly on the same day, with twice-monthly…

Murfreesboro residents must set refuse carts out no earlier than 6 p.m. the evening before pickup, have them at the…

Metro Nashville picks up garbage and recyclables once a week from one- and two-family homes in the Urban Services…

Shelby County government does not provide universal curbside garbage collection in most unincorporated areas; residents…

Sumner County government runs no countywide curbside trash service. Collection is handled city-by-city, so incorporated…

Williamson County runs no curbside trash service. Unincorporated residents haul household waste free to one of the…

Chattanooga sets exact placement rules for curbside cans, within 5 feet of a driveway or street for manual pickup…

Clarksville Code section 8-203 is the only container-storage rule. Between pickups, garbage cans must sit no closer to…

Franklin, Tennessee requires residents to set trash carts within about two feet of the curb, clear of obstructions…

Every Hendersonville property owner must keep an approved can for refuse -- watertight, rodent-proof, 20 to 32 gallons…

Knox County has no curbside trash service, so there are no set trash-cart setout times, but open storage of junk and…

Knoxville requires trash and recycling carts be set out between 6 p.m. the night before collection and 7 a.m. on…

Memphis residents must place their city-issued roll cart at the curb with the handle facing the house and the opening…

Murfreesboro residents must set garbage carts out no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before pickup, keep them 3 feet from…

Metro Nashville limits curbside garbage and recycling containers to a set window, 7 p.m. the night before collection to…

Shelby County's sanitary code (Chapter 44, Division 2) governs how garbage containers are kept in the unincorporated…

Chattanooga residents must call the city to schedule bulky-item pickup, furniture and appliances over 50 pounds or 30…

Franklin collects non-containerized bulky items curbside for a per-load fee, plus separate limits on brush and limb…

Knox County residents can self-haul large items free to a Convenience Center, which accepts hot water tanks, furniture…

Knoxville residents can set out furniture, tires, appliances, and other oversized household goods for bulky-item pickup…

Memphis provides bulk waste pickup for items that do not fit in the standard roll cart. Residents must call 311 or use…

Murfreesboro residents must schedule bulk item pickup with the Solid Waste Department, capped at one collection per 30…

Metro Nashville has no curbside pickup for furniture, appliances or tires: residents haul bulky waste to a Waste…

Shelby County's litter-control code defines 'bulky refuse' as discarded appliances, furniture, and inoperable vehicles…

Williamson County has no bulk curbside pickup. Residents self-haul large items to a convenience center, up to three…

The Street Department runs a free spring and fall yard waste pickup on request for city addresses. Furniture…

Tennessee sets a statewide goal to cut per-capita municipal solid waste sent to landfills and incinerators by 25…

Chattanooga collects recyclables biweekly in City-issued lidded bins, limited to clean aluminum, cardboard, paper…

Franklin defines recyclables narrowly: only director-approved commodities like cardboard, aluminum, tin, steel, and…

Recycling in Knox County is voluntary, not mandatory. Residents drop recyclables free at Convenience Centers, which…

Knoxville accepts garbage, bulky waste, and yard waste for residential collection, while recyclables must go in the…

Memphis provides curbside recycling collection through a separate blue recycling cart. Recycling is single-stream…

Under Recycle Murfreesboro, dumping non-recyclable trash at a designated collection point and scavenging through…

Metro Nashville requires every premises to keep lidded, director-approved containers for garbage and recyclables, set…

Clarksville has no curbside recycling and no ordinance requiring anyone to recycle. Bi-County takes recyclables free at…

Recycling in Williamson County is voluntary, not mandatory. Tennessee has no statewide residential recycling law…

Metro Nashville regulates valet trash and recycling pickup in apartment buildings by adopting the International Fire…

Murfreesboro relaxes its regular bulk-pickup window and closed-lid cart rule during the Christmas stretch, from…

Dumping rubbish, trash, or waste on Chattanooga vacant lots, streets, alleys, or in any stream or body of water is a…

Franklin makes it unlawful to dump municipal solid waste into any stream, ditch, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, or other…

Dumping fill, garbage, refuse, or construction debris anywhere in Hendersonville without a Fill Permit is a…

Dumping more than ten pounds or 15 cubic feet of waste anywhere in Knox County is aggravated criminal littering under…

Knoxville bans dumping or depositing litter on another person's property or on any public street, park, or public…

Memphis Code § 9-60-2 bans throwing, dumping or depositing litter on any property, public or private, and on parkways…

Dumping garbage, rubbish, or other waste anywhere in Murfreesboro besides a licensed dump, convenience center, or…

Shelby County Code section 44-88 prohibits throwing, dumping, or depositing litter on another's or public property, and…

Metro Nashville bans dumping waste anywhere but an approved disposal facility or into someone else's private receptacle…

Clarksville makes it unlawful to throw, place, or scatter objects on city-owned or private property with intent to…

Chattanooga picks up residential yard trash only by scheduled request, capped at twelve pickups a year per property…

Franklin will not shovel up loose leaves or clippings: yard waste has to go into biodegradable paper bags of no more…

Knox County has no curbside yard-waste pickup: residents haul greenwaste, meaning logs, limbs, leaves, grass and brush…

Knoxville collects brush and leaves from residential properties on a regular schedule, but branches must be under 10…

Memphis Code § 9-56-11 requires leaves, grass cuttings, garden trimmings, weeds and roots to go out in disposable…

Murfreesboro caps residential yard waste piles at six cubic yards, requires limbs cut to six feet or under, and limits…

Metro Nashville bans yard waste from garbage containers and only picks it up as curbside brush stockpiles under the…

Franklin's Sanitation Department does not run a dumpster program: businesses needing six or more rollout containers a…

Memphis Code § 9-56-26.1 regulates commercial dumpsters in the downtown solid waste collection district bounded by the…

New or expanding commercial, office, and multi-family developments in unincorporated Hamilton County must screen every…

Commercial and multi-family dumpsters in Hendersonville need a solid brick or stone screen wall on three sides, two…

Every business in Knoxville must keep solid waste in a containerized dumpster, and that dumpster can never sit in the…

Commercial, multifamily, industrial and institutional developments in Murfreesboro must screen dumpsters from view…

Metro Nashville bans emptying dumpsters near homes from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and requires non-metal lids plus a one-inch…

In unincorporated Shelby County, businesses and multi-unit properties using bulk-type garbage and trash containers…

Chattanooga picks up residential garbage weekly and recycling every other week, with both required at the curb by 7…

Franklin charges every residential address a mandatory sanitation fee under Municipal Code § 17-110, even though…

Hendersonville doesn't run its own trash trucks: the City Administrator bids out an exclusive multi-year hauling…

Knoxville collects residential solid waste weekly at no charge, while nonresidential producers get at least weekly…

City Code § 9-56-3 makes solid waste collection in Memphis exclusive to the city: no one else may collect, remove or…

Murfreesboro collects residential refuse once a week, twice weekly for apartment complexes of five or more units, and…

Metro Water Services picks up garbage and recyclables once a week for homes and apartments, but only inside the Urban…

Every residential solid waste account in Memphis is assigned at least one 90-gallon recycle cart alongside its required…

Metro Nashville bans corrugated cardboard and electronics from trash containers, and every licensed waste hauler must…

Shelby County has no curbside recycling ordinance for households; its one recycling-specific rule targets tire…