Garbage Collection and Disposal

Put garbage in a paper or plastic bag, close the top of the bag and put it in the garbage cart. If you have more garbage than fits in the cart, put it in a plastic bag next to the cart.

Put disposable diapers in a paper or plastic bag, close the top of the bag and put it in the cart. Do not put loose diapers in the cart.

Help keep our rivers and Lake Michigan clean. Please pick up after your pet. Pet waste left on the lawn or next to the sidewalk washes into storm drains directly into the rivers and Lake Michigan. Double-bag pet waste in plastic bags. Seal the bags and put them in the garbage cart.

Curbside collection was instituted in the 1993 city budget and has resulted in approximate savings each year of $700,000.

To save costs during non-winter months, residents with street garbage collection (no alleys) are required to place their garbage carts at the curb by 7 a.m. the day of collection and return it to the storage area by 10 p.m. the same day. This affects about half of the 210,000 households in Milwaukee. A designated date of collection is not possible during the winter because collection crews are diverted for snow and ice control.

Households with alleys are not required to move their carts to the curb because their carts are stored and emptied at the alley line. Garbage collection days may change each spring because collection routes are reconfigured.

Collection of recyclables remains on the usual schedule.

Sanitation crews attach garbage collection schedules to all residential garbage carts in early spring.

The Sanitation Division contracts for the service of collecting and cremating any dead animals reported in the public way or requested by property owners. call (414) 286-CITY (2489) for removal.

• Garbage & Recycling Collection Schedules Click for year round Garbage & Recycling Collection Schedule information.
• Construction and Demolition Materials Disposal Click for answers to questions about limits for disposal of construction and demolition debris at Self Help Centers.
• Senior Citizen and Disability Service Click here for information on special needs service for the elderly and disabled.
• Snowstorms Affect Garbage and Recycling Collection Click here for information on winter collection guidelines and procedures.
• Summer Garbage and Recycling Collection Click here for information on summer collection guidelines and procedures.
• No Garbage Collection on Holidays Click here to see a calendar of holidays that will have NO collections.
• Waste Transfer Stations and Self-Help Centers Click here for information on the city's two waste transfer stations and adjacent Self Help Centers.
• Green Lid Garbage Carts and Blue Lid Recycling Carts Click here for general information about your carts.
• Fall Leaf Collection Click here for general information about leaf collection.
• Self-Help Centers Click here for information on self-help center for recycling and safe disposal.
• Large Refuse Disposal Click here for information on pickup of large appliances, disposal of old tires etc.