Allentown Garbage Pickup 2026: Today, Map & PDF

Is Allentown Garbage Pickup Scheduled Tonight?

This planning helper uses Allentown’s common route pairs and official holiday-eve rule. It cannot replace the live address search, current City cancellation notice or the address’s alternating yard-waste week.

How to Find the Exact Allentown PA Collection Schedule

1. Open the official Allentown Trash Zones page. Use the City tool rather than a generic ZIP-code lookup.
2. Search the complete service address. Include the house number, directional wording and correct street suffix.
3. Record both trash nights. Most City-served properties follow Sunday/Wednesday, Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday.
4. Record the recycling night separately. Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday areas can have different recycling nights within the same trash pair.
5. Identify the second trash night. That is the normal bulk-item night: Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
6. Check the current yard-waste result. Yard waste is every other week and cannot be determined from the trash weekday alone.
7. Save the City phone number. Call 610-437-8729 when the address cannot be resolved or lies on a zone boundary.

The Trash Zones page is the best official starting point because it combines the current address search with links to the zone map and yard-waste calendar.

Address Search Not Working?

• Remove the apartment or unit number and search the main building address.
• Check whether the street uses North, South, East or West.
• Use the official PDF map as a visual starting point.
• Do not assume both sides of a border street share the surrounding zone.
• Ask a landlord whether the building uses City or private collection.
• Email SWEEP@allentownpa.gov when phone assistance is unavailable.

Allentown Garbage Pickup Map and PDF Audit

Residents searching for an “Allentown garbage pickup schedule today PDF” are usually trying to identify tonight’s route. The official documents are useful, but they serve different purposes and do not all contain a current today-by-address answer.

Official Map Links

The zone map is helpful when a resident wants to see the citywide route pattern or understand why a nearby street has a different recycling night.

Common Allentown Route Pairs

Border Streets Named on the Official Map

• 11th Street, both sides: Monday/Thursday trash and Monday recycling.
• 17th Street, both sides: Monday/Thursday trash and Monday recycling.
• Hanover Avenue, both sides: Sunday/Wednesday trash and Sunday recycling.
• 100–200 blocks of East Hamilton Street, both sides: Sunday/Wednesday trash and Sunday recycling.
• Maxwell Street, both sides: Tuesday/Friday trash and Friday recycling.

What Allentown Collects and When

Allentown Trash Limits and Curbside Rules

Correct Trash Preparation

• Use up to five bags or up to two acceptable trash cans per collection night.
• Keep each bag at or below 30 gallons and 40 lb.
• Keep each can at or below 32 gallons and 70 lb.
• Bag all household trash, including material placed inside a can.
• Use closed bags or containers with tight-fitting lids.
• Place material in front of the property where it was generated.
• Set it out only between 5 PM and 10 PM.
• Remove emptied containers and rejected material within 12 hours.

Items Prohibited from Regular Trash

• TVs, computers and other electronics.
• Tires, vehicle batteries and car parts.
• Liquid paint and chemicals.
• Hazardous material.
• Bricks, concrete and stone.
• Loose trash in boxes or unbagged inside cans.
• Household trash placed in public litter baskets or Solar Belly receptacles.

Weekly Allentown Recycling

Allentown uses single-stream curbside recycling. Accepted bottles, cans, cartons, paper and cardboard can go together in the City-issued recycling bin.

Recycling Set-Out Rules

• Use a City-issued recycling bin.
• Place recyclables loose, not inside a plastic trash bag.
• Flatten large cardboard and bundle it neatly beside the bin.
• Use the address’s designated weekly recycling night.
• Do not use the recycling bin for trash or yard waste.
• Remove rejected items within 12 hours.

Bulk Items, Mattresses and Construction Material

Bulk belongs only on the second trash night: Wednesday for Sunday/Wednesday routes, Thursday for Monday/Thursday routes and Friday for Tuesday/Friday routes.

Allentown Yard-Waste Collection

Current City guidance says curbside yard waste is unlimited, collected every other week throughout the year and scheduled by address.

Correct Yard-Waste Preparation

• Use brown paper lawn bags.
• Or use rigid containers no larger than 32 gallons.
• Place a City yard-waste sticker on each reusable rigid container.
• Request stickers from the Recycling Office.
• Tie loose branch piles into manageable bundles.
• Keep branches no longer than 4 ft and less than 4 in. in diameter.
• Confirm that the current week is the address’s yard-waste week.

2026 Yard-Waste Drop-Off Site

The City yard-waste site is at 1401 Oxford Drive. The regular 2026 season runs from April 1 through November 21.

Accepted at the Site

• Grass, weeds and flowers.
• Leaves.
• Hedge trimmings.
• Branches and eligible brush.

Not Accepted at the Site

• Dirt, soil, compost or sod.
• Rocks, stones and concrete.
• Flower pots.
• Wood, lumber, railroad ties and fencing.
• Bamboo.
• Trash and construction debris.

The official site page carries current weather closures and seasonal changes, so check it before loading the vehicle.

Allentown Holiday Collection Nights in 2026

Allentown’s system is different from a simple daytime “one day later” schedule. When a collection is scheduled for the night immediately before one of the listed holidays, that night is canceled. The City posts instructions and mails information to affected properties.

Electronics, Metal and Appliances

Allentown Recycling Drop-Off Center

The recycling center at 1400 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, next to the 15th Street Bridge, is normally open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for approved recyclables.

2026 Trash Fee and Rebate Information

The collection fee is separate from the pickup-night schedule. Allentown’s final 2026 budget sets the annual municipal trash and recycling fee at $740 per unit, appearing as a line item on the real-estate tax bill.

2026 Rebate Deadline

The form covering the 2025 municipal waste and recycling fee was due June 30, 2026. That deadline has passed.

• The home had to be a single-family dwelling owned and occupied by the claimant throughout 2025.
• The claimant, or a spouse living in the household, had to be age 65 or older as of December 31, 2025; permanently disabled claimants could also qualify.
• Total household income could not exceed $34,450.
• Required proof and documentation had to accompany the form.

Where Should This Item Go?

What to Do When Allentown Misses a Collection

A material set-out that remains after collection may be a route miss, wrong night, holiday cancellation or rejection. Check the basics before calling.

1. Confirm the exact collection night. Use the address search rather than a nearby property.
2. Check the 5–10 PM window. Material placed after 10 PM may miss the route beginning at midnight.
3. Verify the trash quantity. Confirm the five-bag or two-can limit and all weight restrictions.
4. Confirm the correct stream. Recycling needs a City bin, bulk belongs on the second night and yard waste requires the correct alternating week.
5. Look for a rejection notice. Loose trash, electronics, excess material or contaminated recycling may be intentionally left.
6. Check holiday and weather announcements. A canceled nighttime route is not a normal missed collection.
7. Call the Recycling Office. Report a correctly prepared miss at 610-437-8729.
8. Follow the City’s curb instructions. Remove rejected material within 12 hours; leave a reported miss only when staff instructs you to do so.

Landlords, Apartments and Private Collection

Front-Property Storage Rules

• Do not store trash or recycling containers on the front porch.
• Do not allow debris to accumulate in the front yard, sidewalk or tree well.
• Do not leave rejected material at the curb.
• Do not use public litter cans for household waste.
• Keep the property free of scattered litter.

Common Allentown Collection Mistakes

Collection-Night Checklist

Allentown Waste Contacts and Official Resources

Allentown Garbage Pickup FAQs