Every-other-week recycling and twice-weekly trash
Trash weekly, recycling every other week, and a second trash day in some neighborhoods: city schedules combine the same few patterns in different ways. This guide uses the route data and service notes behind the 79 TrashWeek city pages to show which cities use which pattern.
Why the day or week changes from street to street
Collection routes are drawn by the city or its hauler, not by ZIP code. ZIP codes are drawn for mail delivery, so one ZIP code can include several routes, each with its own pickup day and, where recycling alternates, its own week. The route data shows how finely cities cut it: Charlotte (365 zones), Houston (360 zones) and Indianapolis (346 zones). That is why TrashWeek asks for your address instead of your city.
Cities with every-other-week recycling
28 of 79 cities describe recycling as every other week. The wording is each city's service note as recorded on its TrashWeek page; cities without a service note are not counted.
| City | Service note | Week A/B in route data | Holiday rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akron, OH | Garbage weekly, recycling every other week on the same day. | address lookup, no zone data | Not verified |
| Austin, TX | Trash and composting weekly; recycling every other week (week A or B). | address lookup, no zone data | Not verified |
| Baton Rouge, LA | Twice-weekly garbage on the two days shown; recycling on the first of the two days every other week. | no week label in route data | Pickup skipped |
| Cary, NC | Garbage weekly, recycling every other week, yard waste weekly. | address lookup, no zone data | Not verified |
| Charlotte, NC | Garbage weekly; recycling every other week and yard waste on separate routes. | no week label in route data | Published make-up days |
| Columbia, MO | Weekly refuse; recycling every other week. | address lookup, no zone data | Not verified |
| Columbia, SC | Weekly garbage; recycling every other week; yard trimmings weekly. | address lookup, no zone data | Not verified |
| Dallas, TX | Garbage weekly; recycling every other week on the same day. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Fort Wayne, IN | Recycling every other week (week A or B) on the trash day. | 10 of 10 zones labeled | One-day slide |
| Hartford, CT | Weekly trash; recycling every other week. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Honolulu, HI | Gray cart weekly; blue and green carts alternate weeks. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Houston, TX | Automated trash weekly; recycling every other week; yard waste and junk on separate schedules. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Jacksonville, FL | Garbage weekly, recycling every other week, yard waste weekly — all on your route day. | address lookup, no zone data | Published make-up days |
| Little Rock, AR | Weekly garbage; recycling every other week on the same day. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Madison, WI | Refuse weekly; recycling every other week. | no week label in route data | Published make-up days |
| Miami-Dade County, FL | Garbage twice a week; recycling every other week. | no week label in route data | Pickup skipped |
| Milwaukee, WI | Garbage every week in summer, every other week in winter; recycling every other week. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| New Haven, CT | Weekly trash; recycling every other week on the same day. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Oklahoma City, OK | Weekly trash; recycling every other week on the same day. | no week label in route data | Published make-up days |
| Olathe, KS | Weekly trash and yard waste; recycling every other week. | address lookup, no zone data | Not verified |
| Providence, RI | Weekly trash; recycling every other week on the same day. | no week label in route data | One-day slide |
| Salem, OR | Weekly garbage by franchised hauler; recycling every other week. | no week label in route data | Not verified |
| Seattle, WA | Recycling and food/yard waste are collected on the same day as garbage; recycling every other week for most homes. | no week label in route data | One-day slide |
| St. Paul, MN | Citywide garbage service; recycling every other week by Ramsey County. | no week label in route data | One-day slide |
| Syracuse, NY | Weekly trash on your route day; recycling every other week (A/B). | 10 of 10 zones labeled | Not verified |
| Thornton, CO | Weekly trash; recycling every other week. | address lookup, no zone data | One-day slide |
| Tucson, AZ | Trash weekly; recycling every other week (week A or B) on the same day. | 131 of 131 zones labeled | One-day slide |
| Waco, TX | Weekly trash; recycling every other week. | address lookup, no zone data | Published make-up days |
Not every city that once alternated still does. Detroit (MI): “Trash, recycling, yard waste and bulk are all collected weekly on the same day since the June 3, 2024 route change — the older every-other-week (week A/B) recycling schedule no longer applies.”
When a holiday lands in an A/B week
A holiday changes your pickup day; the city's calendar still decides your week. To work out the date:
1. Find your week. Use the week letter or the dated calendar your city publishes. For Fort Wayne (IN), Syracuse (NY), Tucson (AZ) the route data carries the A/B label per zone, so the zone page shows it. TrashWeek's data does not include the date each city's week A starts, so these pages cannot tell you which week it is today — the city calendar can.
2. Apply the city's holiday rule. Open the holiday page for your city: a one-day slide moves your pickup one day later inside the same calendar week; published make-up days name the exact date.
3. Trust the city notice when it differs. If the city posts a specific date for the holiday week, that date wins.
Once or twice a week
In the route data of the 58 cities with published zones, 46 have every zone on a single weekly trash day. 12 have at least one zone with trash on two or more days.
Two or more trash days in at least half of the zones: Abilene (TX), Baton Rouge (LA), Irving (TX), Miami-Dade County (FL), Montgomery (AL), Pembroke Pines (FL), Richardson (TX).
Second trash day in some zones only: Baltimore (MD), Denver (CO), Lexington (KY), Philadelphia (PA), Washington (DC).
Address-lookup cities whose note says twice weekly: Miramar (FL).
| City | Zones with 2+ trash days | Most trash days in one zone |
|---|---|---|
| Abilene, TX | 2 of 2 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Baltimore, MD | 1 of 30 (3%) | 2 days a week |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 30 of 30 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Denver, CO | 1 of 98 (1%) | 2 days a week |
| Irving, TX | 4 of 4 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Lexington, KY | 1 of 5 (20%) | 5 days a week |
| Miami-Dade County, FL | 306 of 306 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Montgomery, AL | 4 of 4 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Pembroke Pines, FL | 3 of 3 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Philadelphia, PA | 20 of 65 (31%) | 2 days a week |
| Richardson, TX | 2 of 2 (100%) | 2 days a week |
| Washington, DC | 22 of 141 (16%) | 2 days a week |
Twice-weekly routes in a holiday week
Philadelphia (PA): TrashWeek's record of the holiday rule drops the second weekly trash pickup of a twice-weekly route in a week that contains a city holiday, while the first pickup slides one day. Plan one trash pickup, not two, in that week.
Questions
Why is my recycling picked up every other week?
Many cities run recycling on alternating weeks: 28 of the 79 cities on TrashWeek describe recycling as every other week. Your city's collection calendar tells you which week is yours, and a neighbor one street over can be on the other week.
Is trash ever collected twice a week?
Yes. In TrashWeek's route data, 7 cities have trash on two or more days in at least half of their collection zones (Abilene (TX), Baton Rouge (LA), Irving (TX), Miami-Dade County (FL), Montgomery (AL), Pembroke Pines (FL) and 1 more), and 5 more have it in some zones only.
What happens to a twice-weekly trash route in a holiday week?
Philadelphia (PA): TrashWeek's record of the city's holiday rule drops the second weekly trash pickup in a week that contains a city holiday, and the first pickup slides one day.