Why the list exists at all
Everything we load gets weighed and inspected on the other end. Transfer stations refuse whole categories of material, and a truck that arrives with a banned item in the bed gets turned away with the entire load still on it. Legal liability sits on top of that for anything hazardous.
So the exclusions are not us being difficult. They are the rules of the facility that accepts our loads, passed straight through to you. Knowing them before you build your pile saves an awkward moment in the driveway.
Hard no: hazardous material
Nothing in this group goes on the truck, in any quantity, under any circumstance.
- Wet or liquid paint, stains and finishes. Latex paint dried out solid with hardener or kitty litter is often accepted as regular waste; liquid paint is not.
- Solvents, thinners, fuels and pool chemicals. Anything flammable, corrosive or reactive.
- Motor oil, antifreeze and vehicle batteries. Separate recovery streams exist for all three.
- Pesticides, herbicides and lawn chemicals. Including partially used containers.
- Asbestos-containing material. Old floor tile, pipe wrap, certain siding and textured ceilings. Abatement is licensed work and it is not hauling work.
- Propane tanks and pressurized cylinders. Grill tanks, camping canisters, helium and old fire extinguishers.
- Ammunition, fireworks and explosives. No exceptions, and no partial boxes.
- Medical and biohazard waste. Sharps, contaminated material, prescription drugs.
Where it goes instead
Household hazardous waste collection is the destination for nearly everything above. Illinois counties in the Metro East run periodic collection events and some maintain a permanent drop site, so start with your county's solid waste or environmental department and ask for the current schedule. Vehicle fluids and batteries are frequently accepted year-round by auto parts retailers. Sharps and unused medication follow their own take-back programs, usually through a pharmacy or a municipal drop box.
For asbestos, hire a licensed abatement contractor before any demolition starts. Once the material is professionally removed and packaged, whatever clean debris remains is ordinary construction waste and we can take that part.
Appliances with refrigerant
Refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners, dehumidifiers, wine coolers and mini-fridges all contain refrigerant in a sealed circuit. Federal rules require that refrigerant be recovered by a certified technician before the unit is scrapped or landfilled — a truck cannot simply drop one at a transfer station.
We do haul these, and they are handled as a separate line rather than folded into a plain load fraction, because the recovery step has its own cost. Quoted per unit, per job, after we see what it is.
Cheaper paths worth trying first
- Retailer haul-away on delivery. Buying the replacement? Nearly every appliance retailer will take the old unit when they deliver the new one, often free or close to it. Arrange it at purchase — adding it afterward rarely works.
- Utility recycling programs. Energy utilities at times run pickup programs for working secondary refrigerators and freezers, sometimes with a rebate attached. Availability changes, so check current offerings with your provider.
- Scrap metal. Some scrap yards accept sealed units and handle recovery themselves. Confirm before you load it.
One question comes up constantly, from r/StLouis: "Is there a place that will pick up an old washing machine for free, or small cost?" Washers and dryers hold no refrigerant, which makes them ordinary heavy appliances — scrap value alone means a metal recycler or an informal hauler will often take one for very little, and that is worth an afternoon of searching before you hire anyone.
Items that carry a per-item disposal fee
Some things are accepted but priced individually because the facility charges us individually for them.
Tires
Illinois regulates used tire disposal separately, and transfer stations charge per tire rather than by weight. Rims on or off changes the handling. Tire retailers usually take old tires when they mount new ones, which is almost always the cheapest route — ask at the time of the fitting.
Electronics
Illinois restricts landfilling of covered electronic devices, so televisions, monitors, computers and printers move through electronics recycling instead of general waste. Old CRT televisions and monitors are the expensive end because of the leaded glass. County e-waste collection events and retailer take-back programs both exist across the Metro East, and for anything still functional a free listing will usually clear it faster than either.
Mattresses
Many facilities charge a per-item fee for mattresses and box springs because they jam compaction equipment. Recycling programs that break them down into steel, foam and fiber exist regionally and are sometimes cheaper than disposal.
We do not publish fee amounts for any of these, because they move with facility rates and we are not going to quote a number we might not honor. What you get is one price for your actual job, with any per-item handling stated in it before we load.
What we do take, in bulk
The accepted list is much longer than the excluded one. Furniture of every size, mattresses and box springs, appliances, general household cleanout material, garage and basement contents, remodel and demolition debris, deck and fence tear-out, drywall, flooring, brush and storm debris, hot tubs, sheds, playsets and swing sets, office furniture and retail fixtures.
Heavy and awkward is the normal case, not the exception. Getting a seven-foot sofa out of a walkout basement is the job, and it is why the donation-rejected furniture problem ends up in a truck so often.
Sort before you book
Ten minutes of separating makes the whole thing cheaper and faster. Pull anything liquid, pressurized, or chemical into its own corner for a household hazardous waste run. Set refrigerant appliances, tires and electronics aside so they can be counted properly. Mention anything unusual in your request — a sealed drum, an unlabeled container, a suspected asbestos tile floor — because a surprise in the basement is the one thing that reliably stalls a pickup.
Everything else is just volume, and volume is straightforward. The cost guide covers how load fractions are measured, and the dumpster comparison covers when you would be better off renting a container and doing it yourself. Send photos through the request form and we will tell you plainly what stays and what goes.
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