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Donate & ReSell Your Usable Goods

After you have gathered all you you need for your new apartment, let's find a home for the stuff you don't need instead of adding it to the landfill.

Check out our "Reuse It!" website for a list of just some of the many, many options available locally that acceptable usable items from neighborhood thrift stores to online exchanges.

 

Apartment Building Sites

In years prior, Goodwill partnered with select large apartment towers during move out times to reclaim items for another use.

If you are unsure if your building will be doing this, or if you would like your building to participate, contact your property manager to see if Goodwill or another resale organization could set up a donation station for residents.

 

Fill 'Em Up & Roll 'Em Out - DAILY cart COLLECTION

Use the carts as much as possible. Remember to put the trash in the tan cart, and recycling in the green cart. 

For 2024, the Streets Division will begin emptying refuse and recycling carts in the student moving area on Monday, August 5.   We will have crews in the move out area each work day emptying carts starting on August 5 and ending on August 23.

During this window, fill up your carts with the appropriate material according to the guidelines and roll them to the curb by 6:30 a.m. Filling and re-filling your carts keeps your neighborhood clean, and makes our collection much faster so we can stay out of your way while you move.


We will empty the carts as soon as we can so you can fill them up again, so we can empty them again.

Crews will begin patrolling the student move out area starting August 5 as staffing and time allows.  The plan is for crews to complete their regular assigned routes and collection duties. With any remaining time in the shift, they will go to the move out area to empty carts and collect large items.

As more material is set out, more staff will be diverted from regular duties (like brush collection or street repair) to help with the cleanup duties.

Trash cart being emptied into truck

 

the large item work order system and student move out

Disposal of Items that Are Free (Furniture, Mattresses, Etc.)

If you live in the student move out area, you will not be required to complete a work order for free large items from August 5, 2024 until the morning of Friday, August 23, 2024. Large item collection crews will be roving the student areas during that time.

During this window of time, you will not be required to submit a work order to have couches, chairs, box springs, mattresses, bookshelves, tables, and other free large items picked up from the curb.

If you need a large item picked up after or before this window of time listed above, you must create a work order.

A list of items that may require depending on who collects your recycling can be found on the Large Item page.

If your large item is not listed, and it is also not an electronics item that must be recycled by state law, then it can be collected at the curb without a work order in the student move area during the window of time noted above.

What if you do not live in the student move out area? The normal large item work order requirements still apply.

 

Disposal of Appliances and Special Large Items (Microwaves, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Tires, Etc.)

Certain items require a large item work order for collection during the move out.  This ensures we have the correct truck pick-up these items as fast as possible.

They are mostly appliances such as microwaves, dehumidifiers, refrigerators, air conditioners, and so on.  It can also include tires, lawn mowers, and other items.

The items requiring a work order during the move out are ones listed that have a fee associated with them.  The list of items can be found on the large item page

Who pays the fees?

If your home receives recycling collection from the City of Madison, that means you pay the Resource Recovery Special Charge on the monthly municipal services bill.  This special charge covers the cost of the fees related to these special large items, so you will not be prompted to pay any fees when you fill out the large item work order to have these collected. You will also not be charged when dropping these items off at a drop-off site.

If your recycling is collected in a dumpster, or from carts that are not provided by the City of Madison, that means you do not have recycling collection from the City of Madison. This means you do not pay the Resource Recovery Special Charge. As a result, you will need to pay the appropriate fee for these items when making your large item work orders for these special items.  You will also need to pay the fee before you drop these items off at one of the drop-off sites. 

If you are choosing to take the item to a drop-off site and you must pay a fee for the item, then you will receive a fee sticker in the mail to show that you paid for the item. You cannot drop off the item until you receive the sticker.

 

Televisions, computers, laptops, monitors, printers, and other electronics

These items must be taken to a drop-off site for appropriate recycling.

There are no fees for these items when you take them to a City drop-off site.

Do not set electronics to the curb. 

Do not put them into the trash or recycling carts.

 

 

Collection rules & guidelines

The Basics

  • Use the correct cart for the correct material
    • Trash goes in the tan cart.  Recycling in the green cart.
  • Please keep your trash and recycling carts separated from each other.
  • Make sure your carts remain accessible for our trucks and do not pile bagged trash, bagged recyclables, or large items around them.
  • Do not take the collection carts with you. Appropriate carts or dumpsters will be at your next apartment.

 

Trash

  • Put all trash at the curb in the tan trash cart or in trash bags. Do not pile your trash loose at the curb.
  • Do not put recycling in the tan trash cart - all material in the tan cart goes to the landfill.
  • Do NOT put trash in cardboard boxes. Boxes are recyclable. Stuffing them with trash means they get sent to the landfill
  • Place trash that will not fit into the cart in bags.

 

Green Recycling Carts

  • Only put recyclables in the green recycling cart.
  • If the recyclables are in the cart they should be loose. Do not bag them.
  • Have too much cardboard? Here are your options.
  • Use clear plastic bags for recycling that does not fit into the cart. Do not pile it loose at the curb or stuffed into another container
  • Do not stuff extra recycling into a cardboard boxes.

 

Furniture, Wood, and Other Large Items

  • Do not pile bagged trash or recyclables on top of large items furniture or appliances set out for collection.
  • Stack material neatly so crews can be fast and safe when picking up these items

  • Keep larger metal items separate from other material so that it can be recycled.

 

Large Item Work Orders (Microwaves, Refrigerators, Etc.)

  • Use the new work order system for appliances like microwaves, dehumidifiers, refrigerators, and so on.
  • Set the item out on the date you picked in the work order. Do not set it out earlier.
  • Keep appliances separated other items so crews can collect these items easily.
  • Do not place these items into collection carts.

 

Electronics Recycling (Televisions, Computers, Laptops, etc)

 

a bad example - do not be like this

Follow the rules and make a plan to avoid messy piles like below.

See the garbage stuffed into the green recycling carts?

See the garbage crammed into cardboard boxes? That means the whole box goes into the trash.

See the other small trash scattered around, and the other items piled under the tree?

We can be better.

Bad student move out - don't do this!

 

why are there so many special rules for the move out?

Around August 15 each year, most leases in the student moving area in downtown Madison expire.

According to the University of Wisconsin, 35,000 UW students live in the neighborhoods around campus .

That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population City of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin all moving out simultaneously.

And every year, the move out generates over 1 million pounds of garbage that Streets Division crews work hard to collect, much of it by hand.

It is a large operation.

 

A note for property owners & managers

In 2023, individuals that own non-owner occupied property in the student move area will receive a letter providing notification about how the Streets Division will handle certain items set to the curb that should not be. (Click here for a blank version of the 2023 letter)

In the mailing, you also received a print out of the student move map, which is available below. You also received a flyer explaining the drop-off site hours and locations for this year and also a flyer explaining large item rules.

Be sure your tenants know their responsibilities on how to safely handle these items.  Provide them with the full current Recyclopedia or the 2021 condensed version (update to the condensed version coming soon).

Also, if items are dumped illegally on your property, it is a crime and should be reported to the Madison Police Department. After obtaining the case number from MPD, contact the Streets Division to learn the next steps.