Accepted Materials

All trash is not created equal. While most trash is welcome to be disposed of in dumpsters, there are specific types of waste that are prohibited and must be disposed of by other means. When you place a dumpster rental with us, we ask that you disclose the types of items that you’re planning to dispose of. Upon review, we’ll contact you with any issues. 

Before you start using your dumpster, review the list of acceptable and prohibited materials to help avoid any potential missteps.

Some Acceptable Materials

• Junk. Maybe you’re renting a dumpster for a moving cleanout or an office closing. Household junk such as old phonebooks, broken plates, or ripped clothing is generally safe to throw in your roll-off dumpster. Used appliances are sometimes acceptable to dispose of in roll off dumpsters but it’s best to check in with local guidelines or with us at 1-888-413-51051-855-928-3940 or when you’re placing your order with questions.

• Heavy debris. If you’re renting a dumpster for a construction project, rest assured that it’s equipped to handle heavy debris such as pieces of concrete, bricks, cinder blocks, and more. 

• Construction debris. Other construction debris, such as wall tiles, toilets, carpets, drywall, and more, is also acceptable to dispose of in your roll off dumpster.

• Wood. If you’re at a construction site that involves loose wood that you need to dispose of, that’s generally no problem. Wood – such as small blocks or large loose lumber – are acceptable dumpster disposal materials. However, sometimes tree stumps are not prohibited so it’s best to check in with local guidelines or with us at 1-888-413-51051-855-928-3940 with questions.
• Certain types of furniture. Almost all furniture is generally acceptable to dispose of in our dumpsters. Wooden furniture is typically acceptable, even if it is large. However, upholstered furniture is sometimes not accepted at landfills. Check with us at 1-888-413-51051-855-928-3940 or when you’re placing your order so we can help you assess whether disposing of upholstered furniture is doable in your location.

Some Prohibited Materials

• Pesticides. Pesticides are prohibited dumpster materials because they require specialized disposal to prevent harm to plants, animals, and people.

• Motor oil. Motor oil and other gasses are always prohibited from being disposed of via dumpster. That’s because motor oils and other gasses are both toxic and flammable, and the risk of combining them with other items in your dumpster is too high. 

• Freon. If you are planning to throw out a refrigerator, using a roll off dumpster is not an option. Freon is present in most refrigerators, and unless it is perfectly drained prior to disposal, it poses a safety risk.

• Tires. Tires are illegal to dispose of via dumpster. They are a fire hazard as well as a chemical risk upon decomposition to wildlife, bodies of water, and soil if they are disposed of improperly.

• Inks and resins. Inks and resins are better candidates for recycling than roll-off dumpsters. They stain and damage dumpster interiors and are not easy to handle when disposing of.
• Asbestos. Many older homes and infrastructures included asbestos in paint and other finishings before the strong risk of serious health risks. For that reason, we cannot accept any products in our roll-off dumpsters that have even traces of the chemical, as it is especially harmful when released from item breakage.

Recycling

Some materials are best disposed of through recycling. When you disclose which items you’re planning to dispose of in your roll-off dumpster when placing your rental order, we’ll let you know if we see any recyclable materials. If you have a large quantity of items that should be recycled, we may advise that you rent a second dumpster to use as a recycling container to easily sort between items that will end up in landfill versus recycling services.

Reach Out With Any Questions

We hope this guide helps you determine what is acceptable or prohibited to dispose of via your roll off dumpster. As mentioned above, there are sometimes discrepancies in the disposal methods of certain materials. When filling out our initial request about what you plan to dispose of, please be as detailed as possible. This will help us determine which products we can accept and which you’ll need to arrange alternate routes of disposal for. 

In general, if you’re not sure, please feel free to ask by giving us a quick call at 1-888-413-5105. Our Advisors are trained to make this process as easy as possible for you. It’s better to determine beforehand if a product or debris is a good fit for roll-off disposal before you begin gathering and throwing out your items.