Tempe Bulk Trash Pickup: The 2026 Schedule by Area

Tempe picks up bulk trash every other month, six times a year, on a rotating schedule through eight areas lettered A to H. It is included in your trash bill, no appointment needed. The pile goes out no earlier than 10 days before your week and must be at the curb by 6 a.m. that Monday. The full 2026 calendar is below.

Tempe runs the program the way Gilbert does, on a fixed rotation, but with eight areas instead of five and green organics collected in the same week. Everything here comes from the city's bulk trash and green organics page and the 2026 schedule PDF.

What area am I in?

Tempe does not have an address lookup for bulk trash. The areas exist only as a color map on the 2026 schedule PDF, so open it once, find your street, and write the letter on the fridge. If the map is not clear where you live, Tempe 311 at 480-350-4311 will tell you.

When is bulk trash pickup in Tempe in 2026?

Each date below is the Monday your collection week starts. Crews work through the area Monday to Friday, so the pile may sit a few days. You can set it out up to 10 days before that Monday.

Holidays do not shift these. Area B's first week of the year actually starts Monday, December 29, 2025, and Area A's last one starts December 28 and runs into 2027. The rotation goes C, D, E, F, G, H, A, B, then starts over, so if you miss your week the next one is about two months out.

What are the set-out rules?

• Timing. No earlier than 10 days before your week. Out by 6 a.m. Monday.
• Location. Curbside customers: on your property line, in the street or at the front edge of the driveway, without blocking the sidewalk. Alley customers: in the alley along your fence line.
• Two piles. Bulk trash in one, green organics in the other, four feet apart.
• Size. Ten cubic yards total. The city's picture of it is a small SUV.
• Clearance. Four feet from containers, hydrants, gas meters, and utility boxes. Nothing on top of a manhole.
• Green organics. Limbs under 4 feet long and 19 inches across. Leaves and grass boxed or in compostable bags. Cactus boxed. Palm fronds fine. Landscapers may not set out green waste for you.

What Tempe will take

Furniture that cannot be donated, mattresses, bagged trash, small appliances without freon, washers, microwaves, and the green organics above. A couch that still has a few years in it is worth one call to a donation pickup first, because everything in the bulk pile goes to the landfill.

What Tempe will not take

Where is the Tempe dump?

Not where you would guess. Tempe does not send residents to the Salt River Landfill. It sends them to the Sky Harbor Regional Transfer Station at 2425 S. 40th St. in Phoenix, 602-454-2050. Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Sunday and major holidays, last load 30 minutes before close.

Tempe curbside and alley customers get one free load a month up to 1,000 pounds. Bring your most recent Tempe utility bill and a driver's license with the same address, and drive it yourself; nobody can haul it for you under the free program. A safety vest is required and sold on site for $3, plus a $10 hard hat if you are pulling a dump trailer. Freon appliances are $45 each. Over 1,000 pounds you pay the gate rate, which the city does not publish. They do not take dirt, hazardous waste, batteries, liquids, tires, electronics, or big demolition loads.

Where does hazardous waste go?

The Household Products Collection Center at 1320 E. University Dr., Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring a license or a utility bill; ASU IDs work too. Items go in your trunk or truck bed in cardboard boxes, not plastic bags. It takes paint, chemicals, electronics, fluorescent bulbs, tires without rims, scrap metal, styrofoam, and, unusually for the Valley, refrigerators, freezers, and A/C units. Phone 480-858-2223. The city also runs free quarterly Zero Waste Days; the next one is Saturday, November 7, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fire Training Center next door. No mattresses or bulk trash at those.

When it is worth calling us instead

If your week is inside 10 days and the pile fits in a small SUV, use the city. It is already paid for.

Call us when the calendar or the list gets in the way. Your week just passed and the next one is two months out. The job is carpet, drywall, a fridge, tile, or a mirror, which the curb will not take and the transfer station charges for or refuses. You are turning over a rental near ASU between semesters and the tenants left more than 10 cubic yards. Or the pile is on the second floor of a townhouse and "curbside by 6 a.m. Monday" means carrying it down the stairs yourself.

Pricing is flat and based on trailer space. Single items start at $70, a quarter load is $160, and a full trailer is $500, with loading, hauling, and dump fees included. The quote is the price for the job you showed me. If the job changes, the price changes, and I will say so before we load. The full breakdown is in how junk removal pricing works.

Text a photo of the pile to (480) 316-1884 and you will usually have a price within the hour. Tempe is about 20 minutes from my driveway in Mesa. More on our Tempe junk removal page, and appliance removal if the freon is the problem.

Tempe bulk trash questions

Schedule, rules, and fees verified September 2026 against the City of Tempe's bulk trash page, 2026 schedule, and transfer station page. Gate rates and the off-schedule pickup fee are not published by the city and are left out on purpose. Confirm before you set a pile out.