Thornton, CO Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

Section 58-57 defines special collection as service for citizens requesting city disposal of solid waste materials requiring unusual or exceptional handling, which cannot be accommodated through automated collection services, and requires such items to comply with Article III's other requirements and to be arranged in advance with the city for proper retrieval and disposal, rather than simply set at the curb like weekly refuse. Section 58-63(h) ties a charge to that request: customers requesting special collection shall be assessed those charges in accordance with the established special collection rate structure set forth by ordinance, and subsection (i) directs the city council to set those special-collection rates by ordinance rather than leaving them to administrative discretion.

Section 58-63(b) folds seasonal bulky-item-style programs into the same framework, describing the monthly collection fee as covering weekly refuse pickup and any special programs approved by the director, naming fall leaf collection and household chemical round-up during specified periods as examples. Because Article III doesn't publish a fixed per-item bulky-waste fee schedule in the code itself, a customer with an oversized item, such as furniture or an appliance that won't fit an automated cart, has to contact environmental services to arrange a special collection and pay whatever rate the council has adopted by separate ordinance for that service.