Last checked: September 9, 2026
If you just moved into Raleigh, or you are trying to settle a household argument about which night the bin goes out, the honest answer is that no guide — including this one — can hand you your pickup day from a list. Raleigh does not publish a neighborhood-by-neighborhood schedule, because collection is routed by address. What this page can do is give you the current 2026 frequencies, the exact rules for preparing and placing carts, what bulky and special pickups cost, how holidays shift service, and the fastest official path to confirm the day that actually applies to your home.
Verify your address before you act. Everything below describes City of Raleigh solid waste service. If your mailing address says "Raleigh" but your home sits in unincorporated Wake County, in another Wake County town, or in an edge area served by a private hauler or an HOA contract, these rules may not apply to you at all. Enter your street address in the Raleigh Reuse tool, check the MyRaleigh Services page, or call 919-996-3245 before you rely on any day, fee, or eligibility claim here.
Short Answer — Raleigh Trash Pickup at a Glance
The City of Raleigh Solid Waste Services department collects garbage, recycling, and yard waste at the curb.
- Garbage: weekly.
- Recycling: every other week.
- Yard waste: weekly, beginning September 8, 2026 (it used to run bi-weekly, on the opposite week from recycling).
- Your pickup day: set by your address. There is no single citywide day.
- Look it up: the Raleigh Reuse web tool or mobile app, the MyRaleigh Services page, or 919-996-3245.
- Set-out time: carts at the curb by 6 a.m. on collection day; putting them out the night before is allowed.
That is the whole schedule answer in one place: weekly garbage, every-other-week recycling, weekly yard waste as of September 8, 2026, and a day that belongs to your street address and nothing else.
Quick Facts
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Provider | City of Raleigh Solid Waste Services (city crews, not a contracted hauler) |
| County | Wake County, North Carolina |
| Garbage | Weekly |
| Recycling | Every other week |
| Yard waste | Weekly beginning September 8, 2026 (previously bi-weekly) |
| Find your day | Raleigh Reuse web tool or app, MyRaleigh Services page, or 919-996-3245 |
| Set-out time | Curb by 6 a.m. on collection day; putting carts out the night before is allowed |
| Carts back in | By 7 p.m. the day after collection |
| Cart colors | Dark green = trash, blue = recycling, light green 95-gallon = yard waste |
| Cart limit | Two carts per dwelling per collection type; carts are City property |
| Bulky Load | $35 per 4-cubic-yard load, effective April 1, 2026 — schedule it first |
| Special Load | $70 per load |
| E-waste | Free curbside pickup, up to 4 items per week, Tuesdays only |
| Missed pickup | Missed Collection Form or 919-996-3245 — use one, not both |
| Monthly fees (eff. July 1, 2026) | Solid waste $16.00, recycling $5.55, yard waste $6.95 |
Who Collects Trash in Raleigh
Collection in Raleigh is city-run. The City of Raleigh Solid Waste Services (SWS) department operates its own crews and trucks for curbside garbage, recycling, and yard waste, and it also covers the Central Business District and special events. This is not a system where a private company holds a franchise contract for residential curbside collection — which matters to you for one practical reason: there is a single authoritative source for days, rules, and fees, and that source is the city.
There is one wrinkle worth understanding. Only City-issued carts are collected, and they are emptied by automated one-driver trucks that lift the cart with a mechanical arm. That is why placement rules are so specific, and why an unbagged, overflowing, or wrongly oriented cart can cause problems. The truck does not have a crew member walking behind it to fix your lid or pull stray bags off the curb. If it is not in the cart, and the cart is not where the arm can reach it, it generally does not get collected.
Everything SWS does — regular collection, bulky and special loads, the Needs Assistance Program, cart requests — flows through the same Customer Support Center at 919-996-3245 or sws@raleighnc.gov. There is no separate hauler to call.
Find Your Collection Day and Zone (Address Lookup)
This is the step that answers the question you actually came here with. Raleigh runs a slightly unusual arrangement: each address has its own day, and the calendar view is how you find it. Use these three official paths in order.
1. The Raleigh Reuse web tool and mobile app. This is the primary self-service lookup. You enter your street address, and it returns your collection day along with a printable or subscribable collection calendar, reminders, holiday impacts, and disposal guidance for materials you are not sure about. It exists as a web tool on raleighnc.gov and as the Raleigh Reuse App for iPhone and Android. The calendar view is the piece people overlook: it is how you confirm which week is your recycling week, because recycling is not every week. If you only glance at the day and ignore the calendar, you will eventually set out a recycling cart on a trash-only week.
2. The MyRaleigh Services page. The city's service-lookup page is the second official route and reaches the same address-driven answer. This is useful if you are already looking up another city service, or if the app is not installed on your phone.
3. The Customer Support Center at 919-996-3245. A person can confirm your day, your recycling week, your eligibility, and your cart situation. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. If you are moving in and need a cart delivered, or you want to know whether your address is a city customer at all, this is the fastest route to a real answer.
One caveat about published day lists: you will find older pages online that describe Raleigh routes by day-of-week range, or that assign homes to "Schedule A" or "Schedule B." Those labels do not appear on the current city lookup, and the day-range descriptions are not confirmed on the live schedule page. Treat any list like that as unreliable and go to the address tool instead.
What Gets Collected and How Often
Raleigh runs three curbside streams on two different rhythms, and the yard waste rhythm changed recently.
Garbage — weekly. Your dark green cart goes out once a week on your assigned day. Trash must be bagged before it goes into the cart.
Recycling — every other week. Your blue cart is collected on the same day as garbage, but only on your recycling week. Confirm which week is yours on the calendar view in the Raleigh Reuse tool. Recyclables go in loose — never bagged.
Yard waste — weekly beginning September 8, 2026. This is the change that makes older articles wrong. Yard waste used to run bi-weekly, on the opposite week from recycling. As of September 8, 2026, it is collected weekly. If you read a guide that still describes bi-weekly yard waste pickup in Raleigh, it is describing the pre-September-2026 schedule. Yard waste goes in the light green 95-gallon City cart when you have one, or in paper bags and bundles that meet the rules below.
On carts: the three colors are dark green for trash, blue for recycling, and light green for yard waste. There is a two-cart limit per dwelling per collection type, and the carts themselves are City property — not yours to keep, sell, or repurpose. If you need an extra cart or a replacement, that request goes through 919-996-3245 or sws@raleighnc.gov.
Step-by-Step: Cart Prep and Placement
This is the practical checklist for the night before pickup. Getting these details right is the difference between a collected cart and a cart that sits at the curb for a week.
- Bag all trash before it goes in the cart. Loose garbage is a problem in an automated truck.
- Never bag recycling. Recyclables go in loose, so the sorting equipment can handle them.
- Put carts at the curb, not in the street. Carts belong in the curb area, not out in the roadway.
- Leave 3 feet of clearance. Keep space between your cart and cars, mailboxes, and light poles so the truck arm can reach the cart without hitting anything.
- Keep lids open no more than 12 inches. An overstuffed cart with a lid propped way up is not collected properly.
- Point handles toward the house. The arrows on the lid show the correct orientation — handle side faces your home, lid opening faces the street.
- Set carts out the night before, or by 6 a.m. on collection day. Both are allowed. What is not allowed is setting them out earlier than the ordinance permits.
- Bring carts back by 7 p.m. the day after collection and store them out of street view.
That last point is worth stating explicitly, because it is a rule people break without knowing it exists. Raleigh's ordinance says containers may sit at the curb only from noon the day before your service day to 7 p.m. the day after. Setting carts out two days early, or leaving them out for a week, is a placement violation, and repeat placement violations escalate — the first garbage or yard waste placement violation draws a warning letter. Material left at the curb after a missed or known collection can also draw a $50 fine under the Solid Waste Services Code. Details on fines and penalties have been published in more than one form across city pages, so this guide sticks to the clearly documented items rather than quoting a penalty table as settled fact.
Yard Waste Rules
Yard waste is the stream with the most rules, so it is worth reading carefully. There are three accepted formats:
- The light green 95-gallon City yard waste cart.
- Biodegradable paper bags — a maximum of 15 bags, 25 pounds each.
- Tied bundles — a maximum of 5 bundles, each up to 5 feet long, 18 inches in diameter, and 50 pounds.
Black or clear plastic bags of yard waste are not collected. This is not a technicality. Biodegradable or compostable plastic does not break down at the City Yard Waste Center, so the city does not take plastic bags of yard waste at the curb. If you bag your leaves in plastic, plan to empty them into a paper bag or bundle instead.
Yard waste also goes out no earlier than noon the day before collection, and it goes only in the yard waste cart — never in the trash or recycling carts. Mixing streams can turn a whole load into contamination.
Not accepted at all: logs or limbs over 6 inches in diameter or over 5 feet long, stumps, rocks, dirt, mulch, and contractor or land-clearing debris. If you hired someone to take down a tree or clear a lot, that material is not part of household curbside yard waste.
You do not need a cart to put yard waste out — properly prepared paper bags and bundles are still collected curbside. If you want a cart, or need yours replaced, call 919-996-3245 or email SWS@raleighnc.gov. One free bundle of five biodegradable paper bags is available per resident, picked up at the Solid Waste Services building at 630 Beacon Lake Dr., Raleigh, NC 27610.
The annual Christmas tree program is part of yard waste service: collection runs from late December through February, and trees go out intact at the curb on your yard waste day for mulching, which begins December 26.
Bulky, Special, and E-Waste Collections
Some items are too big or too awkward for the cart, and Raleigh handles those through three separate scheduled programs. The single most important rule applies to all of them: items must be scheduled before they go to the curb. Items placed at the curb before a collection is scheduled can draw administrative fines and civil penalties under Section 7 of the Raleigh City Code. Do not treat the curb as a staging area while you get around to calling.
Bulky Load Collection — $35 per load, effective April 1, 2026. This covers household items too large for the garbage cart: furniture, mattresses, box springs, grills without propane, bicycles without tires, bedframes, and push mowers that have been emptied of fuel. One load is 4 cubic yards, which is roughly two couches or three queen mattresses. There is no limit on how many qualifying loads you schedule, but billing is in full-load increments — a partial load costs the same as a full one.
Special Load Collection — $70 per load. This is for items that do not qualify as bulky: exercise equipment, white goods and appliances, and up to 24 excess garbage bags or 15 paper yard waste bags in a single load.
E-waste Collection — free. Curbside pickup of up to 4 electronic items per week, on Tuesdays only. Items include TVs, monitors, microwaves, lamps, and vacuums.
Eligibility for all three is tied to receiving City curbside garbage service. To schedule, call 919-996-3245 with your name, property address, phone number, and a description of the items. The charge appears on your next utility bill. If you need to cancel, do it by noon the business day before the scheduled collection to remain eligible for a refund.
Placement for scheduled items: put them at the curb on a flat area, not in the street, and keep 5 feet of clearance from mailboxes, poles, and cars. There is no alley collection. Townhome residents without a front driveway place items at the end of the parking space.
Things that are not accepted as bulky loads include yard waste, recyclables, cardboard, e-waste, construction and demolition debris, and hazardous waste. Some of those items can go through a Special Load, a private hauler, or a Wake County facility — but not through the standard bulky program.
What You Pay: Raleigh Solid Waste Fees
Raleigh publishes its residential solid waste fees with effective dates, which makes them checkable. Residential monthly fees effective July 1, 2026 are:
| Line item | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Solid Waste Collection | $16.00 |
| Recycling Collection | $5.55 |
| Yard Waste Collection | $6.95 |
| Additional yard waste cart | $2.00 |
The city also publishes a $28.50 per month combined figure. Whether residents see the line items itemized on their utility bill or bundled into a single charge has not been confirmed by the city, so if your bill looks different from this table, that is not necessarily an error — check with the Customer Support Center. The city reviews these fees annually, which is why the effective date matters. This is a good moment to look at your Raleigh water bill and broader Raleigh utilities if you are trying to understand the full monthly picture for a household budget.
Beyond monthly service, the other charges you might hit:
- Bulky Load: $35.00 per load (effective April 1, 2026)
- Special Load: $70.00 per load
- Cart purchases for replacement or expansion: 95-gallon garbage $55, 65-gallon garbage $50, 95-gallon recycling $55, 65-gallon recycling $50, 95-gallon yard waste $55
- Yard Waste Recycling Center tip fees at 900 N. New Hope Road, effective July 1, 2026: $55 per ton with a $27.50 minimum
The Yard Waste Recycling Center is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Raleigh city-limits residents. It does not take pallets or commercial loads, and it does not accept loads larger than a single-axle non-dumping utility trailer (5 feet wide by 8 feet long by 2 feet deep). The center also sells material: organic compost at $35 per cubic yard, leaf or organic mulch at $8 per cubic yard, and dyed mulch at $35 per cubic yard.
Holiday Schedule Changes and Weather Delays
The mechanism matters more than any date list, because holiday dates change every year and a hardcoded list goes stale fast. Here is how Raleigh handles it: when a holiday closes Solid Waste Services, the documented shift pattern is that Thursday collections move to Friday, and Friday collections move to Saturday. If your normal day falls on an unaffected day, your service generally does not move.
For the specific dates that apply in the current year, do not rely on an old bulletin or a screenshot. Check the Raleigh Reuse tool or the city's Collection Schedules page, which reflect the current year's holiday impacts. Older city bulletins are useful as examples of the pattern, not as a schedule for this year.
Weather is the other variable. Snow, ice, and hurricanes can delay collection. When that happens, the city posts updates on its website, pushes notifications through the Raleigh Reuse App, and shares information through local media. If a storm has moved through and your street looks untouched, check those channels before assuming you were skipped.
Missed Pickup and Service Problems
If your cart was out on time and was not emptied, there are two official ways to report it — and the important warning is to use one, not both.
- File the Missed Collection Form at cityworks.raleighnc.gov/missedcollection/
- Call the Customer Support Center at 919-996-3245
If you file the form online, do not also call. Filing online and calling creates duplicate work orders, which slows down the response rather than speeding it up. Leave your carts at the curb, and allow two business days for re-collection.
Customer Support Center hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. Email is sws@raleighnc.gov.
There is a practical caution attached to missed pickups. Material left at the curb after a missed or known collection can draw a $50 fine under the Solid Waste Services Code. That means the fix for a missed pickup is to report it and leave the material at the curb while it is investigated — not to leave a permanent pile out front. And as noted above, repeat placement violations escalate, starting with a warning letter for a first garbage or yard waste placement violation.
Needs Assistance Program and Excess Material Options
Two situations come up often enough to cover separately.
If hauling carts to the curb is physically difficult, the Needs Assistance Program provides backyard garbage and recycling service at your collection point for qualified residents with a disability. It requires a doctor verification form. Two details matter: yard waste is not covered by the program, and enrolled customers receive a yard waste bin unless they opt out. Ask the Customer Support Center for the current form and process.
If you just have more than your cart holds, you have a couple of options. Excess material that does not fit can go to a Wake County Convenience Center at no charge as an alternative to holding it for the next collection, or you can hold it for your next scheduled pickup. Note that the Wake County facility hours, locations, and resident eligibility rules are set by the county — check wake.gov before making the trip.
One thing you cannot do is burn it. Open burning of yard waste or trash is prohibited inside the city limits, except with special permission from the Fire Code Official under Raleigh City Code Sec. 7-2005.
Inside Raleigh City Limits vs. Wake County and Private Service
This is the caveat that determines whether any of the above applies to you. Everything in this article describes City of Raleigh solid waste customers inside the city limits. Raleigh sits in Wake County, and the county and city are separate service systems for waste.
Addresses in unincorporated Wake County, addresses in other Wake County municipalities, and addresses in some annexed or ETJ edge areas may be served entirely differently — by a private hauler, by an HOA or property management contract, or by county facilities rather than curbside pickup. Eligibility for the bulky load and e-waste programs is specifically tied to receiving City curbside garbage service, so a home without city service cannot use them. Multifamily complexes may also have arrangements that differ from the single-family rules described here, and those arrangements are not documented in the same place as the residential rules.
The practical rule: before you rely on any day, fee, or eligibility claim on this page, verify it for your specific address. A "Raleigh, NC" mailing address is not proof of city service, and the address lookup is the only reliable filter.
Resident Scenarios
You just closed on a house and no one told you the pickup day. Enter the address in the Raleigh Reuse tool or app, read the day, then open the calendar view and note whether the recycling week is this week or next. If the address turns out not to be a city customer, call 919-996-3245 to confirm, and start looking at private haulers.
Your trash was collected but your recycling was not. This is usually not an error. Recycling runs every other week, so if it was not your recycling week, there was no recycling collection. The calendar view in the Reuse tool settles it.
You moved in mid-September 2026 and neighbors say yard waste is bi-weekly. They are working from the old schedule. Yard waste became weekly on September 8, 2026. Check the Raleigh Reuse calendar for your address to see the current pattern.
You are replacing a couch and a mattress this weekend. Call 919-996-3245 to schedule a Bulky Load before anything goes outside. The fee is $35 per 4-cubic-yard load, effective April 1, 2026, and it will show up on your next utility bill. Do not stage the furniture at the curb while you wait for a slot — unscheduled items can trigger fines.
Your cart is cracked and the lid no longer seals. Call 919-996-3245 or email sws@raleighnc.gov for a repair or replacement, and ask about the current cart purchase price if you want an extra one. Remember the two-cart limit per collection type.
It snowed and no truck came. Weather delays are a documented part of Raleigh collection. Check the city website, your Raleigh Reuse App notifications, and local media before reporting a miss. If service resumes and your cart is still full, file the Missed Collection Form or call — not both.
You are clearing a lot and have a pile of limbs and stumps. Contractor and land-clearing debris, stumps, rocks, dirt, and limbs over 6 inches in diameter or 5 feet long are not accepted as household yard waste. Those materials need a different disposal route; start with the Yard Waste Center's load rules or a private hauler.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming your neighbor's pickup day is yours. Raleigh days are address-specific.
- Assuming a "Raleigh" mailing address means city service. Unincorporated Wake County and edge areas can be on private haulers or county facilities.
- Bagging recycling. Recyclables go in loose; bagged material is a contamination problem.
- Using black or clear plastic bags for yard waste. They are not collected, because compostable plastic does not break down at the Yard Waste Center.
- Setting carts out days early, or leaving them out all week. The ordinance window runs from noon the day before service day to 7 p.m. the day after.
- Parking a car close to the cart. You need 3 feet of clearance for the truck arm.
- Putting bulky items at the curb before scheduling. Section 7 of the Raleigh City Code allows administrative fines and civil penalties for items placed out before a collection is scheduled.
- Filing the Missed Collection Form and calling as well. Pick one, or you create duplicate work orders.
- Burning yard waste or trash inside the city limits. It is prohibited except with special permission from the Fire Code Official.
- Relying on an old article for the frequency mix. Yard waste moved to weekly on September 8, 2026; older guides say bi-weekly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What day is trash pickup in Raleigh? It depends on your address — there is no single citywide pickup day. Use the City of Raleigh Raleigh Reuse web tool or mobile app, the MyRaleigh Services page, or call 919-996-3245 to look up your street address.
How often is garbage collected in Raleigh? Garbage is collected weekly. Recycling is collected every other week, and yard waste moved to weekly collection beginning September 8, 2026.
What time do I need to put my carts out in Raleigh? Carts must be at the curb by 6 a.m. on collection day, though setting them out the night before is allowed. Remove them by 7 p.m. the day after collection.
How do I get rid of a couch or mattress in Raleigh? Schedule a Bulky Load Collection before putting anything at the curb. Call 919-996-3245 with your name, property address, phone number, and a description of the items. The fee is $35 per 4-cubic-yard load, effective April 1, 2026, and the charge appears on your next utility bill.
How do I report a missed trash pickup in Raleigh? File the Missed Collection Form at cityworks.raleighnc.gov/missedcollection/ or call 919-996-3245. Do not do both — filing online and calling creates a duplicate work order. Leave carts at the curb and allow two business days.
Does Raleigh collect yard waste every week? Yes, as of September 8, 2026, yard waste collection is weekly. Before that date it was bi-weekly, on the opposite week from recycling. Any guide still describing bi-weekly yard waste is out of date.
Does Raleigh pick up Christmas trees? Yes. The annual Christmas tree collection runs from late December through February. Leave the tree intact at the curb on your yard waste day; mulching begins December 26.
How much are Raleigh solid waste fees in 2026? Residential monthly fees effective July 1, 2026 are $16.00 for solid waste collection, $5.55 for recycling collection, and $6.95 for yard waste collection, with an additional yard waste cart at $2.00 per month. The city also publishes a $28.50 per month combined figure. Bulky Load pickup is $35 per load and Special Load pickup is $70 per load.
Sources
- City of Raleigh — Collection Schedules for Garbage, Recycling, and Yard Waste
- City of Raleigh — Solid Waste Common Questions
- City of Raleigh — Garbage, Recycling, and Yard Waste Preparation
- City of Raleigh — Solid Waste Fees
- City of Raleigh — Bulky, Special, and E-Waste Collection
- City of Raleigh — Yard Waste Collection: Frequently Asked Questions
- City of Raleigh — Raleigh Reuse Web Tool and Mobile App
- City of Raleigh — Solid Waste Services Department
- City of Raleigh — Find My Service (MyRaleigh Services)
- City of Raleigh — Missed Collection Form
- City of Raleigh — Holiday Collection Schedule Bulletin (illustrative shift pattern)
- Wake County — Solid Waste Management
Verify Before You Act
Pickup day, holiday shifts, and eligibility are address-specific and change over time, and this page is a starting point rather than the official record. Before you rely on anything here, confirm three things:
- Your collection day. Open the Raleigh Reuse web tool or app, enter your street address, read the calendar, and save or print it.
- The current fees. Check the city's Solid Waste Fees page, because the published figures carry effective dates and are reviewed annually.
- Any holiday or weather shift for the upcoming week. Check the Raleigh Reuse tool or the Collection Schedules page, and check again before a holiday week or after a storm.
If your address is outside Raleigh city limits — in unincorporated Wake County, another Wake County municipality, or an edge area — confirm your actual collection provider before acting on any of the above, since those addresses may be served by a private hauler, an HOA contract, or county facilities. For a broader look at city services a new resident needs to set up, see the related guides on Raleigh utilities and Raleigh building permits.
Last checked: September 9, 2026. Schedule details reflect City of Raleigh sources reviewed on that date. Pickup day, holiday shifts, and eligibility must be confirmed for your specific address.