Columbus, IN Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

Columbus Municipal Code § 8.24.130 sets the preparation rules for bulky material put out for the city in the City of Columbus, Indiana. Cardboard boxes have to be flattened and stacked neatly. Tree cuttings cannot exceed six feet in length and have to be piled neatly and free of any other solid waste. Newspapers have to be bundled when they are not in an approved container.

Extra pickups are handled in § 8.24.030. Each month the city conducts one free "special trash pickup", an additional collection outside the regular schedule. Any other special pickup or additional collection requested by the owner of a residential premises carries a fee determined by the board. Apartment complexes, commercial and industrial establishments and residents on private streets in for profit residential establishments arrange extra pickups through a private hauler of their choice, and contractors must remove and dispose of or recycle the waste they generate at a private dwelling.

Some heavy items are not collected at all. Tires will not be collected by city services and go to a tire recycling center under § 8.24.150. Lead acid batteries go to a battery recycling center under § 8.24.180. Hazardous waste is not disposed of by city services under § 8.24.160, and motor oil is the generator's responsibility under § 8.24.190. Roofing, construction and concrete debris and clean fill can be disposed of only at sites authorized by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management under § 8.24.220.

Storage of large items on the lot is limited too. Section 8.24.105 bars keeping lumber, scrap metal, construction materials, machinery components, appliances or furniture not designed for exterior use in a residentially zoned area, with exceptions for materials intended for use within 30 days, for work under an active building permit, and for items not readily visible from the street.