Is getting rid of big trash items easy/inexpensive where you live?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Is getting rid of big trash items easy/inexpensive where you live?

I have a big, clunky air conditioner, that last worked ten years ago, sitting in my shed. There's also a lot of other items that need a home in the dump. But calling the trash company, it'll cost me $50 to get the air conditioner picked up. It's hard to get rid of stuff. And one of those big bins cost an arm/leg. They won't take X or Y, but Z is ok, but it's gonna cost.
 

Once a year we have a day where we can put out anything and it will be taken for FREE! .Some people will clean out their entire house and put stuff out to the curb everyday for a whole month including old mattresses. Our garabage people are really great. One of them just retired this year at 65.
 

We are assigned trash containers for regular trash that is picked up weekly and the fee for that is included in our water bill with the City. These containers are large, so if anything fits in there, it's allowed.

Otherwise, we have to call for advance arrangements for any brush or bulky trash which will be picked up on the third Wednesday of the month. Air conditioners, refrigerators, or any such items which may contain freon, have a different rule. A professional first has to remove all freon, and the resident has to provide proof by a receipt to the trash collections agent at time of pick up, or they won't take it.

When I last bought a new refrigerator, the company I bought it from hauled off the old one, and did not charge me any extra for that, and I know that to be true because I got the price on the new one before mentioning I needed the old one hauled off.

I'd have a big bill to get rid of that old air conditioner mentioned in the OP. I might try setting it out on the curb for a day and see if someone would just come along and take it. Some people see one and think they can fix it, or may have use of it as scrap metal. But I couldn't leave it by the curb too long, or someone would complain to the City and I'd get a citation.
 
Easy here. The & recycle & trash bins are extra big with regular pick up every Saturday. Then there is pick up of large items like that "big, clunky air conditioner" that would have been picked up yesterday. Large items and or bin trash only cost $20.00 a month.

I think that is really reasonable. When we lived in PA. where we lived there was no trash pick up. To get rid of trash taking it to the landfill & paying $25.00 a lot was the fee charged.
 
Yes! You just call the Regional Waste Depot, or email them, 2 days iin advance of any regular garbage pick up day and they send a special truck around to pick up large items. They won't pick up anything that has any substance that's considered toxic though. You have to haul those to a special depot yourself or arrange for someone to do it for you. It's pretty convenient & easy though. I've used it several times for furniture and he like.
The cost is included in our municipal taxes.
 
We can request a bulk pick-up day which I did. If you stay within the guidelines it is free. I put out TVs, microwaves, mattresses and furniture. The TVs and microwaves were looted well before the pickup.
 
Depending on what we take in to be disposed, and where we take it, It can be costly. When I lived in grandma's house several years ago, my neighbor there said he cleaned out his garage on his time off (this was no small task), and took it to the place it goes to. It had some questionable stuff on it. I asked how he got them to take it, he said "I went and dropped it off at their entrance fence when they weren't there, and left it. I laughed out loud and said well that's one way to do that!

I should have known. Folks in that area tend to do whatever they want. Lol
 
In this area, if you can get the air conditioner to the curb a scrapper will usually pick it up.

People on the local Nextdoor app routinely post curb alerts for such items, to give folks a heads up on whatā€™s available.

Our city trash department has scheduled pickup days for large item pickup but they also have a list of things that they wonā€™t take.

A local sort of scam is for people that advertise on Nextdoor that they will remove large items for a fee of $50-$100. They do remove the items but they usually dump them in a vacant lot to avoid paying dump fees.
 
Apart from a weekly collection of garbage bins included in the council rates, I am allowed two free picks ups a year of large items. They say up to a trailer load but i don't think that is enforced.

Pensioners used to be able to take stuff to the dump for free but people abused that so now that has gone, it is all charged by weight, Recyclable stuff is free - steel, electronic goods, oil, batteries etc.
 
Jules said:
No, itā€™s not easy here and there are lots of discarded items on backroads. Mattresses are a popular item to toss.
Click to expand...
In the UK illegal disposal of any rubbish, trash or unwanted large items is known as fly-tipping. The practice seems previlent where disposal costs seem excessive.
We paid a significant amount to dispose of old fitted carpet and underlay. Before the clearance of said carpet we checked the credentials of the company that we had chose for the disposal. Such companies are licenced, that licence, along with the cost, reassured us that our waste would be dealt with correctly and not end up in a remote country lane.
 
Last year, I had to pay the Council Ā£35, to remove a
3 seater sofa, that is the price for up to 3 bulky items.

I could have taken it to the recycling yard and wouldn't
need to pay anything, unfortunately I am too old to be
trying to do that with a car and a roof rack.

Mike.
 
Living in an apartment building in a small city we have a dumpster and people put all kinds of things in it besides their household garbage. Some things like mattresses are supposed to be set out there after you call our garbage company and arrange for it to be picked up. I think it is about $30. for them to take it. If you do not call them, they will not pick it up. Someone put 2 mattresses and 2 box springs out there and it is still there. They then put them in the dumpster but the garbage men took it out and set it beside the dumpster. Still there. Our manager will make the arrangements for you but they add it to your rent.

On FB scanner page some people were offering to pick up old air conditioners and old appliances for free. I had to get rid of my bed and I paid a guy $75. to come here and take it down and dispose of it. I found him on the FB scanner page.
 
If I had large items which I wanted to get rid of, I would put it on the local neighbourhood WhatsApp. You would not believe the stuff people will come and collect if it's free.

Charity shops in my area expect you to deliver to them at certain times and, if they don't want it, you then have to take it home or to the nearest recycling depot.
 
My trash company will take about anything, if not some scrapper will pick it up if it's metal.

AC units, refrigerators, anything with freon, must have the freon drained and also tagged stating it was done by a lisenced service, only then will the trash guys take it.
 
We have trash pickup twice per week. They take most anything including yard waste. They will pick up larger furniture like a couch if you call ahead. We don't have to recycle plastic or cans or paper because everything is taken to the local electrical plant where everything is incinerated to generate our electricity. We have very low electric rates. What they won't take is appliances but there is a company that will come and pick them up for free if you call ahead.

On trash pickup days, a scrapper usually drives thru the neighborhood looking for scrap metal they can resell.
 
I have the same problem as @fuzzybuddy. Have used different methods to get rid of large items.

1. Call the local waste collection provider and ask them what they recommend. Mine will pick up extra stuff for a not too bad fee.

2. Offer it to someone else. My neighbor collects anything metal and now and then takes it to a place that will pay for it by the pound. Note he has several grown sons with pickups that can handle this stuff. The good thing is they will take it off my hands.

3. Setting things out in front for free has worked many times.

4. There are companies that will haul off junk. Twice in my life, I have done that. Both times, it cost about $125.00 USD. Not cheap but then it was a LOT of stuff! Instead of having them take just one item, maybe go through everything (ugh) and purge?

5. I have never done this, but maybe call a local AC company and ask for their advice? Play the "poor me, old decrepit man" part.

Edited to add: I did need to have a hot tub removed and hauled away. I called a spa company and they referred me to a guy who did a great job.

Good Luck!
 
The city of Vancouver parts department puts a dumpster out at a popular Park so that those who have parties or celebrations have a place to dump there garbage. However people treated as though it's open game to put anything they want in.
 

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My neighbor has one of those dish antennas. It's not one of those little ones on house roofs. It's an old time one. It has to be one of the first satellite dishes. It about 12 feet across, and it's heavy metal in this huge base, which is embedded in huge glob of concrete. Nobody wants it. You'll need a crane to get it out of the yard.
I live in a rural area. The trash guys will take items that won't fit in a trash bin, but it's $50 each. And there really picky about what they will take.
We don't have a "center" were we can take stuff.
 

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