How do I get rid of this?
What it costs, who takes it free, and where it actually goes. Straight answers on 20 everyday items — what the dump charges, who'll take it for nothing, and what's actually illegal to throw in the trash.
See who takes your old stuff for free →
Or let the city take it: free bulk trash pickup covers most bulky items. Hauling it yourself instead? See what the dump actually charges — published fees from named facilities, not a national average.
Disposal guides
- MattressUsually free via bulk pickup
- TVRecycling fee in most states
- MicrowaveFree at most e-waste sites
- CouchFree if it's still usable
- TiresPer-tire fee, not curbside
- Motor OilFree at auto parts stores
- CarpetCut and rolled, or it's refused
- FurnitureCharities collect free
- RefrigeratorRefrigerant must be removed
- PaintHazardous — never the trash
- BatteriesNever in household trash
- Light BulbsDepends on the bulb type
- ConcreteOften free as clean fill
- Hot TubThe pre-cut price gap is big
- GrillRemove the propane tank first
- ElectronicsFree drop-off, most retailers
- Yard WasteFree municipal collection
- Propane TankNever in the trash, ever
- Water HeaterScrap value — they pay you
- DrywallRefused by many facilities
Start with three questions
Almost every disposal problem resolves once you answer these, in this order. Most people skip straight to the third one and pay for something they could have had collected free.
1. Does it still work?
If it does, someone will usually take it for nothing — and often collect it from your house. Charities run free pickup for furniture and working appliances. Buy-nothing groups clear items the same day. Scrap merchants will pay you for anything with a meaningful amount of metal in it, which includes most large appliances. A working sofa is a donation; a broken one is a removal job. The difference in cost is usually the whole price of the job.
2. Is it hazardous, or does it just look it?
A short list of household items genuinely cannot go in household trash anywhere in the US: paint and solvents, motor oil, pesticides, propane tanks, lithium batteries, fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs, and anything containing mercury. Most of these have free drop-off programs, because the alternative is that people pour them down drains. Tires, electronics and refrigerant-containing appliances are restricted rather than hazardous — they have their own routes and usually a fee.
Everything else is ordinary waste, whatever it looks like. A cracked ceramic sink, a broken TV stand and a rusted barbecue frame are all just bulky trash.
3. Only now: what does removal cost?
If free options are exhausted and the item isn't hazardous, you're choosing between hauling it yourself to a transfer station and paying someone to come and get it. That's a real decision with real numbers on both sides, and it's what the cost guides on this site are for.
What things actually cost
Rough US ranges for 2026. Every one of these varies by metro — major cities commonly run above the range and rural areas below — but they're accurate enough to tell you whether a quote you've been given is reasonable.
| Route | Typical cost | Worth it when |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal bulk pickup | Free (1–4 times a year) | You can wait for the next scheduled date |
| Charity collection | Free | The item works and is clean |
| Scrap yard | They pay you | It's mostly metal and you have a vehicle |
| Transfer station, self-haul | $20–$80 per load | You have a truck and an afternoon |
| Single-item removal | $75–$200 | One heavy thing, upstairs, no vehicle |
| Truckload removal | $250–$800 | A garage or a whole room at once |
| Full house or estate cleanout | $1,000–$5,000 | See the estate guide first — the order matters |
The single biggest lever on price is volume, not weight. Removal companies charge by how much of the truck you fill. Breaking things down before they arrive genuinely reduces the bill.
Why this site exists
Search for how to get rid of almost anything and the results are dominated by companies that want to haul it away for you. That's a legitimate service and sometimes the right call. But it means those pages rarely mention that your city will collect the same item free next month, or that a transfer station takes it for twenty dollars, or that a scrap dealer would have paid you for it.
Disposal pricing is also genuinely hard to find. Municipal fee schedules live in PDFs. Retailer takeback policies contradict each other and change without notice. Charity acceptance rules vary chapter by chapter in the same city. We're assembling all of it in one place, starting with the items people actually search for.
We don't run a removal service. That's why the free option comes first on every page here, including the pages about paying someone.
Before you drive anywhere
Call first. Facility fees change annually, programs end, and the person on the phone at your local transfer station knows their own rules better than any website does. Everything here is meant to tell you what to expect and what to ask — not to replace that call.
Every guide carries a last-verified date, and we review them on a schedule. If you find something out of date, tell us — corrections from people who work in waste and recycling are the most useful thing we get.