Montgomery, AL Trash & Recycling: Holiday Pickup Schedule (2026)

The department's 2026 Garbage Route Schedule Changes page is the governing holiday calendar. Sec. 25-33 of the Code of Ordinances establishes the service "to be operated by the department" (Sec. 25-31 defines the department as the sanitation department), sets garbage collection "no less frequently than twice each week in residential areas," and then adds: "All collection schedules are subject to change due to legal holidays or weather conditions." Sec. 25-33 names no holiday and prints no make-up day, so every date below comes from the city's own schedule.

Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026. The schedule reads: Monday and Thursday routes worked Monday (11/23/2026) only; Tuesday and Friday routes worked Tuesday (11/24/2026) only. Christmas Day falls on Friday, December 25, 2026: Monday and Thursday routes worked Monday (12/21/2026) only; Tuesday and Friday routes worked Tuesday (12/22/2026) only. Each route pair gets one pickup for the whole week, not a one-day slide.

The standing rule comes from the city's November 20, 2025 news release: "Effective immediately, during weeks that include a City-observed holiday, Sanitation will only pick up green cans one day during the week." The release says the change "affects all residents who receive city provided sanitation service" and replaced earlier years, when Sanitation "either worked through the holiday or adjusted the schedule to maintain twice-weekly green can pickup."

New Year's Day 2027 falls on Friday, January 1, 2027, but the schedule's only New Year's entry is for Thursday, January 1, 2026, with routes worked 12/29/2025 and 12/30/2025. Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, 2026, is not one of the holidays it lists. None of the three city documents mentions recycling.

Curbside trash is where the city's documents disagree, and the schedule page disagrees with itself. Its header list prints "Curbside Trash Collected as Time Permits," while the line under each holiday, Thanksgiving and Christmas included, prints "Curbside trash is not scheduled." The PDF, stamped "As of March 27, 2026," sides with the header: curbside trash "will be worked as time permits" on Wednesday and Friday of Thanksgiving week and Wednesday and Thursday of Christmas week. The 2025 release is the document that says "there will be no curbside trash pickup during holiday weeks."

Sec. 25-35(c) limits residents to one cubic yard of trash per scheduled pick up. The page also lists Saturday drop-off points on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 7am to 1:30pm.