Seattle Bin Collection: Find Your Day, Holiday Changes & Missed Pickup Help
Seattle Public Utilities provides the official address-based calendar for garbage, recycling, and food & yard waste. For most single-family homes, garbage and compost are collected every week while recycling is collected every other week. Apartment and condo schedules can be more frequent.
Start with your exact service address rather than relying on a neighborhood timetable. The official calendar shows regular pickup days and holiday schedules, while weather-related delays may be posted separately by Seattle Public Utilities.
Seattle Bin Collection: Quick Answer
Use Seattle Public Utilities’ official collection-day lookup for your exact address. The calendar covers garbage, recycling, and food & yard waste and also displays applicable holiday schedules.
For normal curb or alley collection, put carts out by 7:00 a.m. on collection day. If a scheduled cart is still full after the day’s route, a missed collection can be reported after 6:00 p.m. and within two business days.
Jump to the Seattle collection task you need
How to Check Your Seattle Bin Collection Day
Seattle’s official collection calendar is address-based. It is the safest way to answer “what day is my garbage picked up?” because the exact service day depends on the property rather than one citywide weekday.
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Open Seattle Public Utilities’ collection-day page.
Use the official City of Seattle service rather than an old neighborhood calendar. -
Enter the service address.
Use the address where garbage, recycling and compost service is provided. -
Read each waste stream separately.
Garbage, recycling and food & yard waste can follow different frequencies. -
Check the holiday information shown for the address.
Holiday changes should be taken from the current official calendar rather than copied from a previous year. -
Recheck during severe weather or unusual service disruptions.
Weather delays may be announced outside the ordinary calendar.
Seattle Garbage, Recycling and Compost Schedule
For Seattle single-family residences, the standard schedule is straightforward: garbage and food & yard waste are collected weekly, while recycling is collected every other week. Apartments and condominiums can have a more frequent collection schedule depending on the property’s service arrangement.
| Service | Typical single-family frequency | What to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Garbage | Every week | Bag household garbage and use the correct garbage cart. |
| Recycling | Every other week | Keep accepted recyclables empty, clean and dry. |
| Food & yard waste | Every week | Use the compost cart for accepted food scraps and yard material. |
| Apartment / condo | Can be more frequent | Check the building’s actual service schedule. |
Seattle Cart Set-Out Rules: What to Do Before 7:00 a.m.
Seattle Public Utilities asks customers to have normal collection carts out by 7:00 a.m. on collection day. Correct positioning matters because the cart must be accessible to the collection crew without blocking other people.
Set carts out by 7:00 a.m.
Do not rely on the truck arriving at the same time every week. Routes can change during the day.
Point lids toward the street or alley
Place the carts so the lids open toward the collection side.
Keep access clear
Do not block sidewalks, mailboxes or another household’s driveway.
Bring carts back after collection
Remove carts from the collection point as soon as practical after service.
Seattle Holiday Collection Changes
Seattle residents sometimes search for “bank holiday bin collection,” but Seattle Public Utilities uses the term holiday schedule. The important point is that a City office holiday does not automatically prove that every garbage route will move.
The official Seattle collection calendar includes holiday schedule information for the service address. Use that address result as the primary source whenever Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day or another observed holiday approaches.
Check the address calendar
Look at the actual garbage, recycling and compost dates for your property.
Check current SPU notices
Service-area changes may be announced separately when a holiday affects contracted collection operations.
Use the adjusted day
Set carts out by 7:00 a.m. on the confirmed pickup day rather than guessing from the holiday date.
Seattle Missed Garbage, Recycling or Compost Pickup
If a scheduled cart remains uncollected, first confirm that the correct service was due and that there was no collection exception or “Oops” tag. Seattle Public Utilities accepts missed-collection reports after 6:00 p.m. on collection day and within two business days of the missed pickup.
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Confirm that the service was due.
Check the official calendar for your exact address. -
Wait until after 6:00 p.m. on collection day.
A truck arriving later than usual during the day is not yet a confirmed miss. -
Look for a collection exception.
If the hauler left information explaining why the cart was not serviced, correct that issue instead of treating it as an unexplained miss. -
Report the missed collection within two business days.
Use Seattle Public Utilities’ online form or official customer-service route. -
Keep the container accessible for the return pickup.
Seattle Public Utilities says eligible missed collections are rescheduled for pickup within 24 hours after the report is received.
What a Seattle “Oops” Tag Means
An “Oops” tag means the collection crew found a problem with the cart. Common examples include garbage in the recycling cart, plastic in the food & yard waste cart, unsafe material or an overflowing container.
Read the tag
The tag should identify the reason the cart was not collected.
Fix the problem
Remove contamination, unsafe items or excess material before the next service day.
Do not misclassify it
A tagged cart is different from an unexplained missed collection.
Which Seattle Cart Should You Use?
Seattle separates household waste into garbage, recycling and food & yard waste. Correct sorting helps prevent contamination tags and can reduce the amount of garbage service a household needs.
Non-recyclable waste
Use garbage for household items that are not accepted in Seattle’s recycling or food & yard waste systems.
Clean, accepted recyclables
Seattle’s guidance includes paper, cardboard, accepted plastic containers, metal cans and suitable glass bottles and jars. Recycling should be empty, clean and dry.
Food & yard waste
Accepted materials include food scraps, meat, bones, dairy, fish, yard trimmings and approved compostable items.
Extra Garbage, Recycling or Yard Waste
Seattle allows certain extra waste to be set beside the normal carts on collection day, but the rules and charges differ by stream. Label extra material with the service address when carts are grouped with other households.
| Extra material | Charge | Main rule |
|---|---|---|
| Extra garbage | Charged by unit | Place beside the garbage cart. Individual extra items have a maximum 60 lb weight. |
| Extra yard waste | Charged by unit | Place beside the food & yard waste cart. Do not mix food waste into an extra yard-waste unit. |
| Extra recycling | No additional charge | Seattle allows one extra recycling unit per collection day, roughly comparable with a 96-gallon cart. |
Furniture, Appliances and Special Item Pickup
Items that do not belong in normal carts may require a scheduled special-item pickup. For a single-family property, the item is generally collected on the next regular garbage collection day after the pickup has been successfully scheduled.
Schedule before setting anything out
Do not leave furniture or another special item outside without confirmation of the pickup.
Use the normal collection location
For single-family properties, place the confirmed item where solid-waste collection normally occurs.
Have it ready by 7:00 a.m.
The item should be on a flat, level surface and accessible from the street.
Apartment residents need the manager
In buildings with five or more units, the property manager or building owner normally arranges the special-item pickup.
Seattle Apartments, Condos and Multi-Family Buildings
Apartment and condo collection can differ from single-family service. Seattle Public Utilities notes that multi-family collection may happen more frequently, depending on the containers and pickup frequency assigned to the property.
Collection day
Use the property’s actual collection information rather than applying a nearby house’s schedule.
Container changes
Managers and owners can request changes to container number, size or pickup frequency, subject to review.
Bulky pickup
Residents of larger multi-family properties generally need the property manager or owner to arrange special-item service.
Seattle Housing Authority Residents: Important Service Exception
Seattle Public Utilities specifically notes that Seattle Housing Authority customers do not receive garbage or food & yard waste service from SPU. Residents in that situation should use Seattle Housing Authority’s collection information rather than assuming the normal SPU household process applies.
Snow, Ice and Weather-Related Collection Delays
Seattle’s collection-day page warns that the normal calendar does not automatically update to reflect weather-related delays. During snow, ice or another disruption, check Seattle Public Utilities’ current service updates in addition to the address calendar.
1. Check the regular date
Confirm which service was originally scheduled.
2. Check current SPU updates
Weather can change route operations after the regular calendar has been generated.
3. Follow the latest instruction
Use the updated service notice rather than relying on the original date alone.
Use Seattle’s Recycle It App for Collection Reminders
Seattle Public Utilities’ Recycle It app can show collection days for the service address and send a reminder the night before a scheduled pickup. It also provides recycling information and access to some service-reporting features.
Does Seattle Garbage Collection Cost More if You Use a Larger Cart?
Yes. Seattle uses a pay-as-you-throw garbage-rate structure, so larger garbage service costs more. Recycling service is included with garbage service, while food & yard waste has its own service rates.
Rates can change, so use Seattle Public Utilities’ current rate page before changing cart size or estimating a bill. As of the current 2026 rate schedule, the published residential rates changed on April 1, 2026.
Official Seattle Waste Services
BinCollectionGuide.org is an independent guide. Seattle Public Utilities controls collection calendars, customer accounts, missed pickups, container changes and official service decisions.
Open official collection lookup
Open missed-collection service
Open set-out guidance
Open Seattle sorting guidance
Open special-item service
Seattle Bin Collection FAQs
How do I find my Seattle garbage collection day?
Use Seattle Public Utilities’ official collection-day lookup and enter the service address. The calendar shows regular garbage, recycling and food & yard waste pickup information and applicable holiday schedules.
How often is garbage collected in Seattle?
For most single-family Seattle homes, garbage is collected every week. Apartment and condo collection may be more frequent depending on the property’s service arrangement.
How often is recycling collected in Seattle?
Single-family recycling is normally collected every other week. Check the address calendar for the exact date.
How often is Seattle food and yard waste collected?
Food & yard waste is normally collected every week for single-family homes.
What time should Seattle carts be put out?
Seattle Public Utilities says normal carts should be set out by 7:00 a.m. on collection day.
When can I report a missed Seattle collection?
A missed collection can be reported after 6:00 p.m. on the scheduled collection day and within two business days of the missed pickup, provided there is not already a collection exception explaining why service did not occur.
How quickly will Seattle return after an eligible missed pickup report?
Seattle Public Utilities says an eligible missed collection is rescheduled for pickup within 24 hours after the report is received.
Does every Seattle holiday delay garbage collection?
No blanket assumption is safe. Use the official address calendar and current Seattle Public Utilities notices because holiday impacts can vary by year and service area.
What does an “Oops” tag mean?
It means the crew identified a problem with the cart, such as contamination, unsafe material or an overflowing container. Read the tag and correct the issue before the next eligible service.
Can I put out extra recycling in Seattle?
Yes. Seattle allows one extra recycling unit per collection day at no additional charge. Follow the city’s preparation rules for cardboard and other extra recyclables.
Can apartment residents schedule bulky-item pickup themselves?
Residents of buildings with five or more units generally need the property manager or building owner to arrange Seattle Public Utilities special-item pickup.
Best Next Step: Check Your Seattle Address
The quickest way to solve a Seattle garbage or recycling question is to begin with the official service address. Confirm the date, put the correct cart out by 7:00 a.m., and check holiday or weather notices when service may be disrupted.
If a scheduled cart is still full after the day’s route and no collection exception applies, use Seattle Public Utilities’ missed-collection service after 6:00 p.m. and within two business days.
Independent guide: BinCollectionGuide.org is not Seattle Public Utilities or the City of Seattle. Official collection dates, holiday changes, billing, service requests and final collection decisions remain with Seattle Public Utilities.