Pocatello, ID Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Pocatello runs garbage and refuse collection as a municipal utility, not a competitive private service. City Code § 13.28.020 makes the city or its authorized hauling contractor the sole proprietor entitled to collect and dispose of refuse placed for pickup, and it is unlawful for anyone else to run a private removal business for profit within city limits. Building on that exclusivity, § 13.28.030 makes the service itself compulsory: any occupied premises with water or sewer service, or that simply generates garbage or refuse, is deemed to require collection service whether or not the occupant wants it.

The owner or occupant must pay the billed costs, and the code specifically bars refusing the collection and disposal service outright. Missing a pickup, for whatever reason, does not excuse payment either, since the temporary failure of any person to receive such service does not exempt that person from payment of charges provided for in the chapter. The one narrow exception is a full vacancy of every utility service at the premises, which can exempt the account from refuse charges only until utility service is restored and the property is occupied again.

Billing for this mandatory service runs through the utility billing department alongside water and sewer charges as one monthly statement under § 13.28.240, and a share of every bill funds a capital reserve account under § 13.28.245 dedicated to replacing collection trucks, carts and other refuse-system equipment over time.