Western Disposal Services

Following are the questions (and answers) most frequently asked of us.

A.    To ensure pickup please have your materials out by 7 a.m. To better serve our customers, we are continually rerouting our trucks to improve route efficiency; consequently, your pickup time may vary.

A.   Even though we try to be consistent, different circumstances may affect the collection schedule: weather, traffic, mechanical breakdowns, holidays, and re-routing. We are unable to promise a time, but we promise to be there on your pickup day. To ensure pickup, please have your materials out by 7 a.m.

A.  If your collection day falls on or after the holiday, your pickup will be delayed by one day. For example, Wednesday pickups will happen on Thursday, and Friday pickups will happen on Saturday. The holidays observed by Western are: New Year’s, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (no other holidays affect your schedule). Download collection calendar.

A.  Place the cart(s) in the street against the curb. The arrow on the lid should face the street and the cart handles should face your house. Place the carts at least two feet away from other carts, extra trash, parked cars, fences, trees, mailboxes or any other obstruction.

A.  The Boulder area can experience extreme wind conditions, and it is sometimes hard to prevent your containers from tipping over. On windy days, if possible, wait until the following week to put your materials out; or bag your trash first so that if your can or cart tips over, trash won’t blow around your neighborhood. If you use trashcans and would like to identify them for return to your home, please send us a self-addressed stamped envelope; and we will send you two adhesive address labels you can attach to your can or can lid.

A.  Yes, using twine or other natural rope; no plastic twine or rope. Whether or not you are charged extra for them or other yard waste depends on where you live and your service level. Click here for specifics about what is included in your service level and how to prepare the branches for collection.

A.  You are paying for a set service level, most likely the amount of trash you expect to generate in a typical week. When you exceed this amount, you incur extra charges. In this sense, trash service is like your cell phone service—you pay for so many minutes a month whether or not they are used. The majority of the cost for your service is getting to your home. Also, our drivers make over 4,000 stops per week. It would be impossible for them to remember who was and wasn’t using their full service each week. If you regularly have extra trash, you may want to call our Customer Service Department at 303-444-2037 to see if it would be beneficial for you to increase your level of service.

A.  If a customer has more trash than is included in their service level, they must be assessed an extra charge. You can reduce the charge for collecting extra trash by using pre-paid trash stickers.Click here to see how to purchase extra charge stickers.

Large items, such as sofas, mattresses, appliances, can be collected on your regular collection day. There are specified charges for large item pickup. Call 303-444-2037 to get pricing for these items.

A.  We pick up everything from sofas to old TVs—we’re glad to help. Please call us at (303) 444-2037 to schedule the pickup and authorize the charges.

A.  Because of the Freon coolant, they cannot be compacted in our trucks with your other materials. We must take special steps to pick up and process each unit. Call us at 303-444-2037 for pricing and to schedule a pickup. You can also deliver appliances to our Trash and Recycle Center. If you have us do the pick up, make sure to remove refrigerator or freezer doors or tape them shut for safety reasons. Refrigerators and freezers must be empty.

A.  Yes. Please call us at 303-444-2037 for information regarding the charge for this service. We require 24-hour notice to set up a special collection. Special collections can be scheduled Monday through Friday.

A.  Here are five of the most popular solutions to your big clean-up problems:

1. Put extras out on your regular trash day. For a reasonable charge, we are always willing to take almost anything you put out: old sofas, broken lawnmowers, Uncle John’s junior high school mementos—you get the picture. Please call us to authorize the extra charges.
2. Schedule a pickup. We send a trash truck to your house or business and make the pile go away. This option is perfect if you need your project to be cleaned up immediately and can’t wait for your regular collection day.
3. Rent a dumpster. We place a two- or six-cubic-yard container at your house or job-site and you call us when you want it emptied. This option works especially well when you know the project will generate small volumes each day for several days and/or you have limited space for a container.
4. Request a roll-off container. Available in 12-, 20-, 30-, or 40-cubic yard sizes, a roll-off is for the biggest of jobs. You’ll need a large space to put it—roll-offs are approximately 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 6 feet high.
5. Load up your vehicle and bring your materials to Western. Conveniently located in east Boulder, our Trash and Recycle Center is clean, paved, and open six days per week.For help determining which option is best for you, call our Customer Service Department at (303) 444-2037. We look forward to helping you with your cleanup project.

A.  Western provides trash service to Boulder, Broomfield, Eldorado Springs, Jamestown, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland, and the I-25 corridor east of Longmont. Please call us for specifics—not all services are available in all areas.

A.  You may recycle your empty, broken-down, flattened boxes at no charge—put them under the lid of your single-stream recyclables cart for the biweekly pickup. Packing materials such as Styrofoam or bubble wrap must be removed and disposed of as trash.

A.  To learn more about residential hazardous wastes, click here.

To learn more about commercial hazardous wastes, click here.

A.  Anyone who lives in Boulder or Broomfield Counties or the Town of Erie can bring their materials, free of charge, to the Boulder County Household Hazardous Waste facility located at Western Disposal’s Trash and Recycle Center. Click here for map and hours. For more information, call their hotline at (303) 441-3800 or visit their website.

A.  Yes! Boulder increased its residential recycle rate from 17% in 2001 to 34% in the first year of PAYT rates. Recycling and diversion rates are now 50% residentially and 35% community-wide (includes commercial recycling).

A.  Yes. The first exchange is free; there is a charge for subsequent exchanges. We recommend that you occasionally wash your cart out with soap and a garden hose to keep it clean and odor-free.

A.  6.25 (a cubic yard has 200 gallons).

A.  A cubic yard is a measure of volume—3’x3’x3’. A cubic yard is roughly the size of a dishwasher.

A.  Cart customers — Most areas are serviced by automated trucks and utilize wheeled carts for collection. Carts hold more materials than bins, are easy to wheel to the street, and can be stored in your garage or outside. If you need a bigger cart or an additional cart, call Western at 303-444-2037. Carts are available for trash, recyclables and compostables (where this service is available) in most areas. Call us to see if they are available in your area.

Bin customers — If you live in an area or Homeowner’s Association that does not use carts, you must supply your own bins or purchase bins from Western. Call us at 303-444-2037 and we will deliver the bin(s) to your home free of charge, or you may pick them up at our offices. Any open-topped, sturdy plastic container of 12-gallons or less may be used for your recyclables. Suitable containers are available at most discount stores.

Mountain and rural customers — Bins and carts are not available for mountain, and some rural, areas where the co-collect bag system is used. If you have questions about what services are available in your area, call 303-444-2037.

A.  To ensure pick up, please have your recyclables and your trash out by 7 A.m.

A.  Click here to access our collection calendar showing what material is collected each week. If you are in doubt, put out both materials; we will pick up the material being collected that week and leave the other for the next week.

A.  Click here to access our recyclables and compostables guidelines.

A.  No, as they are a contaminate and would need to be removed at the recycle facility.

A.  The value of the recyclable materials delivered to a processing facility is far less than the cost to collect and transport them. To cover the cost of our employees, equipment, fuel, maintenance, insurance, facilities, etc., we must charge for the service. In the city and county of Boulder, the cost of your recycle collection is included as part of your combined trash and recycling service. The more trash you generate, the more you pay; but recycling is unlimited. The more you recycle, the more you save.

A.  No, your recyclables need to fit in your cart or carts. If this is an infrequent occurrence, try to wait until the next pickup day. If this is a frequent occurrence, you may need a larger cart or another cart—please call us at 303-444-2307. There is no additional charge for more or larger recycling carts.

A.  Cart customers should put cardboard in the recyclables cart or break it down and place under the lid of the cart. Bin customers should put cardboard in the bin or, for larger pieces, break it down, flatten it and place under your bin. All non-recyclable packing material should be disposed of as trash.

A.  We can only collect recyclables that are accepted by the Boulder County Recycling Center; and they do not accept plastic bags in curbside recyclable deliveries.

A.  Bring it to our Trash and Recycle Center. Click here for information and directions.

A.  Western provides trash service to Boulder, Broomfield, Eldorado Springs, Erie, Frederick, Firestone, Jamestown, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland, and the I-25 corridor east of Longmont. Please call us for specifics—not all services are available in all areas.

A.  There are several ways to discourage illegal dumping:

1. Move the container to a more protected area.
2. Try to secure a name or address label from the trash. Then call your local police department to report the illegal dumping.
3. Call Western to retrofit your container so it locks (locking setup and service fees apply).
4. Ask Western to post a “No Illegal Dumping” sign on your container.

A.  Yes, any container can be made lockable for a one-time setup fee plus a small monthly charge to account for the additional time necessary to empty the container.

A.  You are paying for a set service level. The majority of our cost, approximately 75%, is getting to your location. You pay for this service even if your containers aren’t completely full. Those weeks when you exceed this amount, you are charged extra. In this sense, trash service is like your cell phone service with so many minutes for a monthly fee and a per minute rate after you use your set level of minutes — even if you didn’t use them all in prior months.

Our commercial drivers pick up more than 6,500 businesses each week; and, even if they tried, it would be impossible for them to remember who put out how much trash in previous weeks—they can only measure what is out for pickup each time they are at your location.

A.  Western cannot accept commercially generated hazardous waste. Contact the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and the Environment at (303) 692-3300. Some licensed hazardous waste haulers are found in the Yellow Pages under “Environmental and Ecological Services.”

A.   We pick up everything from filing cabinets to HVAC units—we’re glad to help. Please call us at (303) 444-2037 to schedule the pickup and authorize the charges.

A.  Yes, we have two styles of recycle bins. The first is a “desk-side box” that fits well under a desk, has the office paper guidelines printed on the back, and is as large as two reams of paper; and the second option is a stackable crate.

A.  The value of recycled materials delivered to a processing facility is far less than the cost to collect and transport them. To cover the cost of our employees, equipment, fuel, maintenance, insurance, facilities, etc., we must charge for the collection service.

A.  Western accepts electronics for recycling at our Trash and Recycle Center.
There is a fee to help cover the costs of processing. Prices will vary according to the quantities and materials dropped off. We will also pick up recyclable electronic equipment for your business for an additional fee.

For pricing and additional information at Western’s Trash and Recycle Center, call 303-444-5794.

A.  Please refer to www.lamprecycle.org

A.  If you are a large generator of pallets, call a pallet broker in the Yellow Pages to sign up for regular pickups.

• Ask your current vendors if they will take back pallets as they deliver new product.
• Authorize the extra charges for Western to collect pallets on your regular trash day or schedule a special pickup.
• Order a roll-off container from us to load your pallets for wood recycling.
• Haul them to our Trash and Recycle Center for wood recycling (disposal charge applies)

A.  At our Trash and Recycle Center, we recycle:

• Wood waste (unpainted and untreated)
• Plywood
• OSB and particle board (nails ok)
• Scrap metal
• Yard Waste
• Cardboard
• Mixed paper
• Commingled containers
• Electronics

Disposal charges may apply.

Cardboard, mixed paper and commingled containers can be dropped off for free. The wood waste and yard waste drop-off facilities at our Trash and Recycle Center are sponsored by the city of Boulder and Boulder County.

Disposal charges apply for scrap metal and electronics.

At your construction site, we can recycle cans and bottles, mixed paper, cardboard, scrap wood, trees and brush, scrap metal, concrete, asphalt and brick. ReSource! has more information on recycling reusable construction materials.

Carpet and carpet pad are not recycled.