Trash Collection The Department of Public Works (DPW) provides scheduled trash and recycling collection service to approximately 110,000 single-family homes and small residential buildings with up to three living units. Each year, that equals approximately 128,000 tons of trash and over 20,000 tons of recyclables! Additionally, DPW collects 5,000 tons of bulk trash by appointment. If you live in a single-family home or a small, multi-family building with three or fewer dwelling units, the District government picks up your trash and recyclables. Larger apartment buildings, condominiums, and co-ops are considered commercial properties and do not receive municipal trash service. Commercial building owners and managers are responsible for hiring a private, licensed hauler to collect trash and recyclables from these residences. Approximately 75 percent of District households receiving DPW service have once-a-week trash collection. These residences have been provided with 96-gallon Supercans. Homes in the center or oldest parts of the city, where streets and alleys are very narrow, receive twice-weekly trash collection. Those households use smaller, city-issued waste containers. View the Trash Collection Schedule and Map* for your area of the District.  When a holiday falls on a trash collection day, we generally "slide" one day. In other words, most trash collection moves to next day in the week after the holiday. View the complete DPW holiday collection schedule for both once-weekly and twice-weekly collection areas. Clockwise from top: Standard Supercan, Mini-Supercan, recycling bin, Clean City (trash) can, and recycling cart. Helpful Tips All trash must be securely bagged and put inside a District trash container (Supercan, Clean City can or mini-Supercan). Bags outside of containers are allowed only for grass clippings and leaves. Place trash cans out no earlier than 6:30 pm the night before collection. Residents are also required to remove trash containers from public space by 8 pm on collection day. Inform DPW of a missed collection or spillage by calling 311. Between collections, store trash cans or Supercans on your property, rather than in the alley or on the sidewalk. Information We Need from You Name Address Phone number If just YOUR trash was missed, or if an entire block of trash was missed Hours of Operation 6:30 am–3:15 pm, Monday through Friday We Will Resolve Within 24 hours Holiday Schedule DPW is closed on all government holidays. Holiday collection schedule To Request Services Call the Mayor's Citywide Call Center at 311. Service Request Center * This document is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). A PDF reader is required for viewing. Download a PDF Reader or Learn More About PDFs.