Tossguide is not a city website. Every disposal fact is tied to an official page, and a missing fact stays missing.

Atlanta, Georgia

Couch and bulk furniture disposal in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta collects furniture as scheduled bulk waste. The Office of Solid Waste Services page says household bulk waste includes large items (furniture), which is the city rule used here for a couch or sofa. The city pages read on 2026-10-22 do not print the words couch or sofa. Effective February 16, 2026, bulk pickup is on the regular weekly collection day and still has to be scheduled at least one business day ahead. One collection is no more than 8 cubic yards. That page allows 12 collections a year and then a fee of $343.10. The billing page lists requests 1 through 12 at $0 and request 13 or more at $336.38.

Rules

Curbside allowed
Yes
Appointment required
Yes
Limits
Office of Solid Waste Services page: household bulk waste includes large items (furniture) or white goods (appliances). Bulk collection is defined as no more than 8 cubic yards (the size of a small room of furniture). If the items to be collected exceed 8 cubic yards, the additional items collected will be considered an additional bulk collection. The page says 12 collections per year. It says the department provides services to over 100,000 residential Atlanta households, and it prohibits bulk for evictions, vacant properties, and items left by contractors. The older Solid Waste Services page defines bulk rubbish as materials with the total weight, volume, and/or size that are too large for the city's residential garbage collection trucks. Its examples are appliances, furniture, large piles of tree branches, and large metal or wooden playground equipment. That older page also says 12 collections per year. It does not state an 8-cubic-yard cap. It says the department provides services to over 450,000 residents and thousands of business each week. No page read on 2026-10-22 states a unit-count cutoff for furniture.

Preparation

  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: effective February 16, 2026, bulk collections will be scheduled on your regular weekly collection day. Bulk collections still must be scheduled.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: schedule at least one business day in advance, online at https://www.atlantaga.gov/solidwaste or with ATL311 by dialing (404) 546-0311.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: the weekly collection day can be found on the Solid Waste Services page in the SWS Operations Tool.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: do not place items at the curb before 7 p.m. the day before the scheduled pickup. A citation may be issued if items are placed on the curb before 7 p.m. the day before scheduled pickup.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: approved items must be in the right-of-way, not blocked by mailboxes, cars, overhanging tree branches and/or powerlines.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: place garbage and recycling carts, and yard trimmings on yard-trimming collection weeks, at least six feet away from bulk items at curbside. Carts, yard trimmings, and bulk placed too close together may result in one or both being delayed.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: scheduled bulk collections must be canceled by 3 p.m. the day before the scheduled collection day.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page, townhome residents: provide the gate code in the Comments section when submitting a request on the SWS Collection Tool, if applicable.
  • The office page says the regular-weekly-collection-day rule is effective February 16, 2026. The 2026 holiday schedule lists Presidents' Day, Monday, February 16, as a regular collection schedule.
  • 2026 Solid Waste Holiday Collections page: one-day delay for New Year's Day (Thursday, January 1), Martin Luther King Jr. (Monday, January 19), Memorial Day (Monday, May 25), Juneteenth (Friday, June 19), Labor Day (Monday, September 7), Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26), and Christmas Day (Friday, December 25). Regular collection schedule for Presidents' Day (Monday, February 16), Independence Day (Saturday, July 4), Indigenous Peoples' Day, formerly Columbus Day (Monday, October 12), and Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11). Questions: dial 311 or visit www.atl311.com. The Office of Solid Waste Services page points residents to that holiday schedule for potential delays when the office is closed. The holiday page does not use the word bulk.

How to schedule

  1. Schedule the pickup at least one business day ahead. The Office of Solid Waste Services page says bulk collections still must be scheduled, online at https://www.atlantaga.gov/solidwaste or with ATL311 at (404) 546-0311. The public-works FAQ says to submit the request at Atl311.com. The older Solid Waste Services page also names the ATL Solid Waste mobile app.
  2. Use the regular weekly collection day. The office page says that, effective February 16, 2026, bulk collections are scheduled on that day, and that the day can be found in the SWS Operations Tool. The office page points to the 2026 holiday schedule for delays when the office is closed.
  3. Put the furniture in the right-of-way, not blocked by mailboxes, cars, overhanging tree branches, or power lines. Do not set it out before 7 p.m. the day before the scheduled pickup. Keep garbage carts, recycling carts, and yard trimmings at least six feet away.
  4. Stay within 8 cubic yards, which the office page calls the size of a small room of furniture. More than that is another bulk collection. The same page caps the year at 12 collections. A townhome resident should put a gate code in the Comments section of the SWS Collection Tool when one applies.
  5. Cancel by 3 p.m. the day before the scheduled collection day if the pickup is not needed.

Phone, app, or portal

  • Online: https://www.atlantaga.gov/solidwaste
  • Phone: ATL311 at (404) 546-0311. The Office of Solid Waste Services page says to schedule with ATL311 by dialing that number.
  • ATL311 website: The public-works FAQ says to submit a bulk collection request by visiting Atl311.com, or by using the Bulk Collection Request link on that FAQ page.
  • Mobile app: The older Solid Waste Services page says residents must schedule bulk collections through ATL311, online, or on the ATL Solid Waste mobile app, downloaded on Google Play or through the Apple Play store.
  • Call center hours: The Make the Right Call page lists a bulk collection request as a non-emergency issue for 311. It says ATL311 call centers operate Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and that the mobile app is available to record cases at any time.

Fees

Curbside
Office of Solid Waste Services page: 12 collections per year (if 12 collections per year are exceeded, the resident is charged a fee of $343.10). That sentence does not say whether $343.10 is charged once or per extra collection. Billing Questions and Solid Waste Fees page, in the table labeled New Solid Waste Ordinance, FY2026 rate column: bulk waste is $0 per year for an address with requests 1 through 12, and $336.38 per request for 13 or more. The older Solid Waste Services page says 12 collections per year and does not state a dollar fee.
Notes
The office page and the billing page disagree on the dollar amount after 12 bulk collections. The billing page says the City Utilities Committee held a public hearing on July 9, 2024, on adopted legislation 24-O-1214. The same table lists a separate FY2026 residential curbside solid waste collection and disposal rate of $486.39 per year. The billing page says a rate study assessed the cost of solid waste, recycling, yard trimming, and bulk-item collection services citywide. The 2026 Solid Waste Rate Study page linked from that billing page says the department is proposing a phased rate adjustment. It does not publish a bulk-waste dollar amount.

Drop-off locations

Not published by the city

What's not accepted

  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: the city will not collect auto parts (including tires) or building/construction materials.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: bulk is prohibited for evictions, vacant properties, and items left by contractors.
  • Office of Solid Waste Services page: bulk collections still must be scheduled. A citation may be issued if items are placed on the curb before 7 p.m. the day before the scheduled pickup.

Other free options

Not published by the city

Sources

Last verified: 2026-10-22

report a change