Trash pickup in Columbus, Indiana works as a City service inside the city limits: you buy a toter from the Department of Public Works once, and its Sanitation Department empties it once a week on your address’s collection day. Recycling comes every other week on that same day if you sign up for it, and outside the city limits, pickup comes from a private hauler you hire.
Below, we cover each step, from finding your day to who collects past the city line. Fees and dates are as the City of Columbus published them in October 2026.
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How Do You Find Your Trash Pickup Day in Columbus?
Look it up in Columbus Collects, the City’s address tool. On the Sanitation and Trash page, put in your address and the tool builds a collection calendar for that home, showing when and what is collected on your trash day. Columbus Collects also comes as an app for phones and tablets, with reminders, and its Waste Wizard search gives disposal instructions for an item you are unsure about.
One day carries every service. The City’s Trash Guidelines say trash, recycling, yard waste and brush are all collected on your trash day. Trash goes every week. Recycling goes every other week, for homes that have signed up for it.
Questions about your service go to City Sanitation at (812) 376-2509.
What Does a Columbus Trash Toter Cost, and Can You Add a Second?
You pay once for the toter, and the first one carries no monthly charge. The City’s Toter Information page explains that buying a toter is buying the collection service, so the toters are City property: each is assigned by serial number to the property address and stays with the home when you move. As published in October 2026, the trash toter comes in three sizes:
- 96 gallons: $80
- 64 gallons: $70
- 48 gallons: $65
After that purchase, the page names two more fees: a one-time $30 on your utility bill to change toter size, and a monthly fee of $5, $7 or $9 for a second trash toter, depending on its size. So yes, you can add one. The page’s number for questions is the Sanitation Department, (812) 376-2509.
New to the city, or in a newly annexed area? The City’s New Service page says you will need to buy the trash service to start collection, and the City can sign you up for recycling or yard waste at the same time. The yard waste toter has its own price, which our guide to yard waste removal costs in Columbus covers along with brush pickup.
The Department of Public Works office itself moved to 1350 Arcadia Drive, per a City notice posted August 3, 2026, though the Sanitation and Trash page still lists the old Kreutzer Drive address.
Which Holidays Delay Pickup for Columbus Households?
Five in 2026, and two of them are still ahead: Thanksgiving and Christmas. The City’s Holiday Closings page lists the days the Sanitation Department is closed and collections do not take place, and it says all collections will be delayed one day, with Friday’s collections on Saturday. The 2026 list:
- New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1
- Memorial Day, Monday, May 25
- Labor Day, Monday, September 7
- Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26
- Christmas Day, Friday, December 25
Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26; if your trash day is in that week, check your collection calendar or call City Sanitation for the date. Christmas lands on a Friday, and the City’s rule moves Friday’s collections to Saturday, which this year is December 26.
City Hall’s own 2026 holiday schedule is longer, adding days such as Veterans Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve that are not on the Sanitation Department’s list. For collections, check the Holiday Closings page and the City’s @ColumbusRecycles Facebook page, where it posts holiday closing updates.
How Should Toters Sit at the Curb on a Columbus Pickup Morning?
Out by 7 a.m., lid opening toward the street, with room for the truck’s arm. Columbus collects toters with automated trucks, and the City’s Trash Guidelines and Toter Information page set out how they should sit:
- Set them out by 7:00 a.m. on collection day, but not more than 24 hours before pickup.
- Turn each toter so the lid opens toward the street.
- Keep them at the curb, three feet from obstructions such as vehicles and mailboxes, and clear of fences and low-hanging limbs.
- Space two or more toters at least 2 feet apart.
- Do not park in front of your toters on collection day.
- Bag all trash and put it inside the trash toter.
- Move the toters back up to the house within 24 hours after collection.
- Keep the toter area clean, or risk a sanitation letter with a possible fine.
Two rules decide whether a bag goes at all. Trash left outside the toter will not be collected, and recycling and yard waste toters cannot stand in as trash toters: one contaminated with trash will not be collected either.
Mind the sidewalk, too. The City’s Sidewalk Access Tip asks you not to set toters directly on the sidewalk. If a grassy strip runs between the sidewalk and the street, put them there. If not, set them as far back as they go, on the back edge where the sidewalk meets your yard.
Does the City Collect Recycling at the Curb in Columbus, and How Often?
Yes, every other week, for homes that sign up. The City’s curbside program, Columbus Recycles, collects recycling on your trash day every other week, and the letter A or B on your recycling toter’s lid marks which weeks are yours. The City’s Recycling Calendar page has a printable 2026 calendar with every week marked A or B.
As published in October 2026, the Columbus Recycles page says a 96-gallon recycling toter is delivered to your home at no cost once you sign up, with no additional user fees and no sorting or bagging, while a 64- or 48-gallon toter carries a one-time $30 fee on your utility bill. Each household is limited to one recycling toter. To join, fill in the online sign-up form or call (812) 376-2509.
Not every Columbus home qualifies. The City’s Recycling FAQ limits the service to single-family homes and apartments with four or fewer units that are already City sanitation customers within the City of Columbus.
What goes in, per the City’s Recycling Toter Do’s and Don’ts sheet: glass bottles and jars, aluminum food and beverage cans, flattened cardboard boxes, cartons, paper, and plastic bottles, jugs, tubs and cups, all clean, dry and loose. Keep out plastic bags, Styrofoam, electronics, hazardous waste, clothing and anything else not on the accepted list. The City’s What We Recycle page adds that plastic bags go to a store drop-off location instead.
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What Will the City Refuse to Collect From a Columbus Toter?
Eight kinds of waste, at any time. The City’s Trash Guidelines say the Sanitation Crew will not collect:
- lead acid batteries
- propane gas tanks
- house move-out or clean-out trash, meaning more than 20 bags or boxes
- motor oil
- tires
- containers of wet paint
- hazardous or infectious wastes
- construction debris, concrete, or roofing and carpeting
Three more go in only with preparation, and the guidelines spell out how:
- Ashes and sawdust. Never put hot ashes in a toter. Cold ashes and sawdust must be bagged and tied off.
- Hypodermic needles. Put them in a rigid container with a lid, such as a soap bottle or milk jug, before it goes in the trash toter.
- Water-based paint. Take the lid off the can and let the paint dry out before the can goes in the trash toter. No oil-based paint goes in the toter.
For household hazardous waste, the guidelines send you to the Bartholomew County Recycling Center’s website, where the Tox-Away page lists what it accepts from Bartholomew County residents. The guidelines also say items that do not fit in your toter need a special pick-up request, a separate City service with limits of its own, which our guide to Columbus bulk pickup rules covers.
If your toter was left full, check it against the set-out rules and this list first, and check whether it was a holiday week. We found no missed-pickup procedure on the City’s sanitation pages, so after that, call City Sanitation at (812) 376-2509.
Who Collects Trash for Columbus Homes Outside the City Limits?
A private hauler you hire yourself. The City’s Toter Information page says its toter service is for residents within the city limits, and the Recycling FAQ limits curbside recycling to sanitation customers within the City. Past that line, the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District lists four local haulers for Bartholomew County residents and businesses that do not get City Sanitation service. As listed in October 2026:
- GFL: 463-276-4512
- Rumpke of Indiana: 812-372-1225
- Best Way of Indiana: 812-663-7054 or 888-202-1502
- Ray’s Trash Disposal/WM: 866-917-1876
Ask each one what weekly service costs at your address, which day it collects, how it handles holidays and items too big for the cart, and whether it collects household recycling. Rumpke’s own Columbus page, for one, says it offers only commercial recycling in Columbus.
Hauling it yourself is the other route, and our guide to the Bartholomew County Landfill’s hours and rules covers what it accepts. Burning is not a route either, and our guide to whether you can burn trash in Columbus explains why.
Weekly bags are the hauler’s job. Ours is the one-time load that does not fit a weekly route: the sofa and dresser left after a move, the house clean-out the City’s crews will not collect, the old tires (those cost extra). We run out of Columbus and cover the I-65 corridor up to about an hour and three quarters from our yard, on both sides of the city line. That is the work behind our page on furniture removal in Columbus, and we keep an office in Bloomington for hauling furniture out of Bloomington homes too.
You get a reminder two days out, another two hours out and a text when the crew is on the way. On site, they look over the load and price it there, with no obligation, and you pay once the job is done. We do not haul paint, chemicals, fuel or oil; the section above covers what the City and the county’s Tox-Away program say about those.
Key Takeaways
- Inside the city limits you buy a City toter once, and the Sanitation Department collects trash every week on the day Columbus Collects shows for your address.
- As published in October 2026, a trash toter costs $80 (96 gallons), $70 (64 gallons) or $65 (48 gallons), with no monthly charge for the first one. A size change is a one-time $30, and a second trash toter is $5, $7 or $9 a month, depending on its size.
- Five 2026 holidays close the Sanitation Department, and all collections are delayed one day, with Friday’s collections on Saturday. Thanksgiving (November 26) and Christmas (December 25) are still ahead.
- Toters go out by 7 a.m. and no more than 24 hours early, lids opening toward the street, at least 2 feet apart and three feet from obstructions, with all trash bagged inside.
- Columbus Recycles collects every other week on your trash day for homes that sign up, in a 96-gallon toter delivered at no cost. It serves single-family homes and apartments with four or fewer units that are City sanitation customers.
- The City’s Sanitation Crew will not collect lead acid batteries, propane gas tanks, house move-out or clean-out trash of more than 20 bags or boxes, motor oil, tires, containers of wet paint, hazardous or infectious wastes, or construction debris, concrete, or roofing and carpeting.
- Outside the city limits, pickup comes from a private hauler you hire, so ask about recycling before you sign up.
