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Washtenaw County Recycling Guide

City of Ann Arbor

City Hall
100 N. Fifth Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Solid Waste Customer Service Center:  734-994-2807
24-hour Solid Waste Hotline Information:  734-99-GREEN
www.a2gov.org

Solid Waste Services

Trash is picked up through the City service.  Please call the Solid Waste Customer Service Center at 734-994-2807 with any questions or click here for online information.

Recycling Services

Curbside recycling pickup occurs weekly, by the City service, the same day as trash pickup.  Please call 734-994-2807 to receive a recycling bin or with any recycling questions.

Acceptable Materials for Recycling 

Items not accepted for curbside recycling can be brought to the Drop-Off Station on 2950 East Ellsworth Rd. 734-971-7400.

City of Ann Arbor's Solid Waste Services are no longer picking up bulky items.  Please click here for other disposal options.


Yard Waste

Yard Waste is collected curbside April through November.

Christmas Tree Collection usually occurs during the third week of January.  To verify this information please call 734-994-2807.  All tree stands, nails, ornaments, tinsel and plastic bags must be removed and discarded before leaving the tree at the curb by 7 a.m. on your normal trash collection day.  Apartment complex managers may arrange for a holiday tree bulk pickup by contacting the Service Center at 994-2807.  Undecorated Christmas tress may also be dropped off in the parking lot adjacent to the Drop-Off Station at 2950 East Ellsworth from mid-December to the end of January.

It is not permitted to burn leaves or brush in the City of Ann Arbor.  A bonfire permit can be obtained by calling the Fire marshall at 734-994-4907.

Special Services

  • Clean Your Files Day
    • The City of Ann Arbor participates annually, or as needed, with the U.S. Council of Mayors’ initiative in Clean Your Files Day. The City Administrator approves staff to spend a half-day reviewing their paper files and recycling out-dated materials. Solid waste staff provide advance training to volunteer recycling coordinators from each floor or location in the city. The staff pretraining session includes going over archival timelines for municipal records (adapted from Michigan Municipal League guidelines), what can be recycled, and how the day will be managed. On the day of the event, clean paper carts are delivered to each floor/location and a compacting recycling truck is parked in the lot. Throughout the day, full carts of papers are wheeled to the truck for compaction. In addition, unwanted office supplies are gathered in a room and made available for reuse by other departments. To help make the day more fun, each year has a special theme or activity, such as “guessing how many pounds of paper could be stuffed into a VW beetle car,” or celebrating “2001, A Space-Saving Odyessy.” Staff are welcomed to work in the morning with donuts and juice. Sometimes a trivia contest on recycling and historical city facts is offered. Some years the event is held around Earth Day (April 22) and links to community themes, such as alternative fuel vehicles, energy conservation, or an Arbor Day tree planting. A planning guide, posters, banners, and case studies is offered online from: www.usmayors.org


  • Downtown Cleanup

    • Volunteers join city crews to plant flowers, sweep sidewalks, remove handbills, remove graffiti, and help spruce up the downtown area and specific parks on the Saturday nearest May 15th (after the last frost warning has passed). The city’s horticulturalist preps the flower beds and purchases the flowers in advance. He feels that the half-day volunteer support accomplishes two weeks of labor in his program alone. Funding for supplies comes from the Downtown Development Authority and representatives from the area merchant associations contribute time, food, and funds for the effort. The labor is primarily from area scout troops, families, downtown neighbors, and city staff. Different thank yous have been provided to the volunteers—a pizza and pop lunch is a staple—and either a t-shirt or a goodie bag with items from the merchants, candy, and a thank you certificate from the City’s mayor.  Please call 994-2807 for more information. 

  • Materials Recovery Facility Services, Educational Tours and Open Houses

    • The City of Ann Arbor owns a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) recycling plant and waste transfer station at 4150 Platt Road near East Ellsworth Rd. The plant is operated on behalf of the City by FCR, a private company that operates two dozen recycling plants in the U.S. Over 30 other communities and haulers pay to bring their recyclables and trash to this location. Currently the MRF processes 120 tons of recyclables/day and transfers over 200 tons/day.

    • FCR manages the recycling and waste rates and payments. For more information on using the Ann Arbor MRF, please call 734-971-8797.

    • Individuals and small businesses may use the Drop-Off Station for recycling, refuse and other materials, located at 2950 E. Ellsworth, 734-972-7400, around the corner of the MRF.

    • The MRF Education Center hosts 4,500 visitors/year. Groups of 15 or more may schedule a prearranged group tour of the MRF facility during weekday business hours. Grade-appropriate activities are provided for students.

    • In addition, monthly MRF open houses are offered from September through June on second Saturdays of each month at 10 am-Noon and second Tuesday afternoons from 3-5 p.m. Special activities are included in the monthly open houses.

    • For more information on MRF tours, please go to www.a2gov.org/recycle or phone 734-994-4176. 

  • Off-Campus Student Turnover

    • During the annual student fall move-in and spring move-out, the near UM campus neighborhoods have short-term needs to haul away large quantities of unwanted debris. Ann Arbor uses special refuse carts only and surplus waste materials are not accepted loose at the curb. Since 2002, the City has provided large collection rolloffs or dumpsters in five campus neighborhoods. Students may bring their unwanted refuse and furniture to these sites for free disposal. A few of the sites are managed on behalf of the City by Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA). RAA also sorts the materials for recycling or reuse before disposing of the remaining debris for landfilling. Illegal use of the sites (such as use by private contractors for construction debris) can be ticketed by the City’s Community Standards branch of Safety Services. The move-out sites are set up about two weeks before graduation and need to be serviced daily, seven days/week. The move-in program begins late August and includes extra curbside pickups of flattened cardboard boxes by Recycle Ann Arbor.

      More elaborate reuse sites have been piloted and have not been as successful. Our speculation is that students are only able to focus on moving during a small window of opportunity—between the end of exams and before leaving town. Providing a staffed comprehensive reuse site on campus during exams does not match the off-student needs. 

      Please call 994-2807 for more information.

    • The University of Michigan residence halls have a very successful reuse program, netting 11-14 tons of materials each year in stations that are set up in the lobby and loading dock areas for: furniture, loft wood, books, papers, clothing, toiletries, nonperishable food, and appliances. For more information, check www.recycle.umich.edu.

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