Bin There, Cleaned ThatMemphis, TN Trash Pickup Schedule and Cart Rules
Your pickup day, what the truck will and will not take, and the placement mistakes that get carts skipped in Memphis.
Last verified 2026-07-29 against City of Memphis Division of Solid Waste Management. Questions about your specific address: 3-1-1, or (901) 636-6500 from outside Memphis
Heads up
The colors are backwards from most cities, which trips up new residents constantly. In Memphis the GREEN cart is garbage and the GRAY cart is recycling.
Your collection day
Garbage and recycling are both collected weekly, on the same day. That makes Memphis one of the few large US cities with weekly rather than every-other-week recycling. Yard waste is also weekly, up to two bags or half a cubic yard.
Look up your route on the official Memphis schedule
Cart placement
| Cart | One green garbage cart and one gray recycling cart per address |
|---|---|
| Out by | 7:00 a.m. on collection day, and no earlier than 5:00 p.m. the day before |
| Back in by | 8:00 a.m. the day after collection |
| Clearance | at least 3 feet from vehicles, utilities, hydrants and other objects |
| Facing | clear access for the automated arm |
Why carts get skipped
- Contaminated recycling. The wrong thing in the gray cart can send an entire truckload to the landfill.
- Yard waste mixed with construction debris. It has to be organic only and in a separate pile.
- Bulk items set out on a week that is not your Outside the Cart week.
- Less than 3 feet of clearance.
- A skipped pile usually has a warning tag on it explaining why. Check for the tag before calling 311.
When you have too much
An additional garbage cart can be leased for $10. If you pay the solid waste fee you can also take up to one truckload of non-hazardous waste to the landfill each month, or use a Solid Waste Convenience Center, open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Recycling
Gray cart, collected weekly on the same day as garbage. Remember: gray is recycling, green is garbage.
Goes in the recycling cart
- Standard single-stream recyclables. Use the Wizard tool on the City's solid waste page to check any specific item.
Keep out
- Anything that contaminates the load. When in doubt check the Wizard rather than guessing, because a contaminated load goes to the landfill.
Bulk items and appliances
Memphis calls this Outside the Cart, and it runs twice a month rather than weekly. Depending on your address it falls on either the 1st and 3rd or the 2nd and 4th week, on your regular collection day. It covers yard debris beyond your two weekly bags plus bulk items like tree limbs and furniture. There is no Outside the Cart collection in a fifth week, and your collection calendar marks these weeks.
Handled through the Outside the Cart program or a Convenience Center. Refrigerant units require certified evacuation. Call 3-1-1 with questions.
Holiday weeks
Collections shift to the following day after an observed holiday. Note that addresses in contracted areas served by Team Waste are not affected by City holiday delays and run their normal schedule.
What we see on this route
The Memphis Curbside Collection app is genuinely the easiest way to handle this. It gives you your collection day, your Outside the Cart weeks, and holiday alerts without having to remember any of it.
Worth confirming yourself
Sources disagreed on these, so we are telling you rather than picking one quietly.
- Third-party sites variously list the green cart as 90 or 96 gallons and clearance as 3 or 4 feet. Use the City's own guidance, or call 3-1-1 for your address.
We clean carts in Memphis
Weekly recycling means Memphis households run two carts to the curb every single week instead of one. Twice the carts, twice the buildup, and the gray one gets nastier than people expect once soda and food residue sit in it through a Memphis summer.
Your city empties the cart. It does not wash it. We come after pickup, scrub and sanitize inside and out, and deodorize it. Leave it at the curb and we handle the rest.
- 1 cart · $20
- 2 carts · $30
- 3+ carts · $40
Common questions
- What day is trash picked up in Memphis?
- Garbage and recycling are both collected weekly, on the same day. That makes Memphis one of the few large US cities with weekly rather than every-other-week recycling. Yard waste is also weekly, up to two bags or half a cubic yard. City of Memphis Division of Solid Waste Management publishes a route map, and the fastest way to be certain is to check it or call 3-1-1, or (901) 636-6500 from outside Memphis.
- Is recycling collected on the same day in Memphis?
- Yes, recycling goes out on the same day as household garbage. Gray cart, collected weekly on the same day as garbage. Remember: gray is recycling, green is garbage.
- What time do I need my cart at the curb in Memphis?
- By 7:00 a.m. on collection day, and no earlier than 5:00 p.m. the day before. Leave at least 3 feet from vehicles, utilities, hydrants and other objects, and put the clear access for the automated arm.
- Why was my cart skipped?
- Usually placement rather than schedule. Contaminated recycling. The wrong thing in the gray cart can send an entire truckload to the landfill.
- What if I have more trash than fits in the cart?
- An additional garbage cart can be leased for $10. If you pay the solid waste fee you can also take up to one truckload of non-hazardous waste to the landfill each month, or use a Solid Waste Convenience Center, open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Do you clean the cart on my trash day?
- We come after your cart has been emptied, so it is empty when we clean it. Leave it at the curb and we handle the rest, you do not need to be home.