Portsmouth disposal guide

How to Get Rid of Junk in Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth Public Works collects household trash and recycling at the curb once a week. Big items are different: they either go to the City Recycling Center on Peverly Hill Road for a per-item fee, or out on a scheduled curbside bulky pickup. Chemicals wait for Household Hazardous Waste Day, and construction debris, shingles and usable goods each have their own route. This guide covers where every common item goes.

Item by item

Where Each Type of Junk Goes in Portsmouth

Find the thing you are trying to get rid of, then follow the route. Fees and rules change, so each card links to the office that sets them.

Furniture and Other Bulky Items

Couches, chairs, tables and dressers are bulky waste. Take them to the Recycling Center, where upholstered and wood furniture cost $5 a piece, or book a curbside bulky pickup through Public Works. Never leave furniture at the curb without booking first.

Mattresses and Box Springs

The Recycling Center takes mattresses and box springs for $5 each. They can also go out on a curbside bulky pickup in the City's furniture week. The local Habitat ReStore doesn't accept mattresses, box springs or bedding, so don't plan on donating them there.

Appliances

Washers, dryers and dishwashers are $5 each at the Recycling Center, and a cooking range is $10. Refrigerators and anything else containing Freon cost $20, which covers removing the refrigerant. Curbside, appliances and scrap metal go out in the City's appliance week.

TVs, Computers and Electronics

Older TVs and monitors contain lead, and New Hampshire bans them from landfills and incinerators. Leave them out of the trash. Bring electronics to the Recycling Center, where the fee is $10 an item, or book them on a curbside bulky pickup.

Paint, Chemicals and Batteries

Oil-based paint, solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals and gasoline wait for Household Hazardous Waste Day, held each spring and fall. Latex paint isn't taken there: harden it first, then bring it to the Recycling Center. Motor oil, antifreeze and rechargeable batteries go to the Recycling Center free.

Yard Waste and Christmas Trees

Yard waste goes out on your regular trash day from April 1 to November 30, in paper bags of 50 pounds or less. Brush must be cut to 4 feet, no thicker than 5 inches, and tied in bundles. Out of season, yard waste, brush and trees can go to the Recycling Center.

Shingles, Lumber and Remodel Debris

Public Works isn't set up to take roofing shingles. The City points residents to Aggregate Recycling Corp in Eliot, Maine, at 207-439-5584. Clean wood goes to the Recycling Center, at $15 for 2 cubic yards or $25 for 4. Construction debris never goes in the recycling bin.

Tires, Grills and Propane Tanks

Tires are $7 each at the Recycling Center from July 1, 2026. Gas grills and propane tanks of 20 pounds or more are $5, and empty 1-pound cylinders are free. You can also swap a propane tank where you buy a new one.

Things Still Worth Using

Cabinets, doors, building materials, working appliances and furniture in good condition can go to the Southeast New Hampshire Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 29 Fox Run Rd, Newington. Drive-through drop-off needs no appointment. Check its list first, because some categories are paused when the floor is full.

Public Works bulky waste pickup

How Portsmouth's Curbside Bulky Pickup Works

If you can't get big items to Peverly Hill Road, Public Works will collect them from the curb. The pickup fee is currently $10, plus the disposal fee for each item. It's only for addresses on City trash collection. Condos and businesses served by a private hauler can't use it, though they can still use the Recycling Center.

Pay and Schedule Online

Pay for Each Item

Use the City's online payment portal. Choose your items, tick the Schedule Pickup box, enter the pickup address and add the curbside pickup fee. You can also pay at the Public Works front desk by card or check. Cash isn't accepted.

Call Public Works to Book

Once you've paid, call Public Works at (603) 427-1530 to set the pickup date. Nothing is scheduled until that call.

Match the Item to Its Week

Pickups rotate by item type: upholstered furniture and mixed materials in week 1, appliances and scrap metal in week 2, tires and electronics in week 3, and wood furniture and scraps in week 4. A mixed clear-out can take a month of pickups.

Put It Out at the Right Time

Set items at the curb between 7 pm the night before and 6 am on pickup day, apart from your regular trash. Everything has to be at the curb, so plan for helpers if items are upstairs or in the basement.

Portsmouth Recycling Center, 680 Peverly Hill Road

Portsmouth Household Hazardous Waste Day

Public Works holds Household Hazardous Waste Day twice a year, in spring and fall. The next one is Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 8 am to 12 noon. It's for residents of Portsmouth and the neighboring towns the City lists, and proof of residency is required. Commercial and industrial users can't bring waste.

Oil-based and lead paint, stains and finishes

Solvents, thinners, turpentine and brush cleaner

Gasoline, lighter fluid and radiator flush

Pesticides, fungicides, insect spray and fertilizer

Pool chemicals

Acids, corrosives and poisons

Driveway sealer, roofing tar and creosote

Oven, rug and bathroom cleaners

Wood strippers and wood preservatives

Not accepted on the day: latex paint, smoke detectors and anything from a business. The largest container allowed is 5 gallons, and drums aren't accepted. Harden latex paint with kitty litter, sawdust or a paint hardener and bring it to the Recycling Center. Alkaline batteries and household light bulbs aren't hazardous waste, so you don't need to wait for the event.

New Hampshire and City rules

Never Put These in Your Portsmouth Trash

TVs, computer monitors and other electronics

Oil-based paint, solvents, thinners and gasoline

Liquid latex paint, until it has hardened all the way through

Pesticides, pool chemicals and other household chemicals

Rechargeable batteries, which the City collects for recycling

Bulky items you haven't booked with Public Works

Self-hauling

Hauling Junk Yourself in Portsmouth

Get Your Recycling Center Sticker

Recycling Center stickers are free for Portsmouth residents. Bring a current vehicle registration showing your Portsmouth address to the Public Works lobby. Stickers run for the calendar year.

Check the Hours and Payment

The Recycling Center is open Tuesday to Thursday from 7:45 am to 3:15 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm, with longer Tuesday hours in summer. Item fees are paid by card or check, never cash, and card payments carry a processing fee.

Sort Before You Load

Fees are charged per item, and shingles have to go to Maine. Separate furniture, appliances, electronics, clean wood and anything hazardous at home so you're not sorting at the gate.

Weigh the Real Cost

A self-haul often means a borrowed truck, several trips, loading time and a free weekend day that matches the Recycling Center's hours. For a couple of items that's fine. For a whole basement it adds up fast.

If hauling it yourself doesn't add up, tell us what needs to go and where it is on the property.

When the city options don't fit

When a Junk Removal Service Makes More Sense

The City's Recycling Center and bulky pickup cover most small jobs, and you should use them. They stop working when any of these apply.

Questions

Portsmouth Junk Disposal FAQ

No. Curbside bulky pickup costs a pickup fee, currently $10, plus the disposal fee for each item. You pay online or at Public Works, then call (603) 427-1530 to book the date.

No. The City says bulky waste must not go curbside without scheduling a pickup with Public Works first.

$5 for a mattress and $5 for a box spring at the Recycling Center. If Public Works collects it from the curb, the pickup fee is added.

$20 at the Recycling Center, the same fee as any item containing Freon. It can also go on a curbside bulky pickup in the appliance week.

Saturday, October 24, 2026, 8 am to 12 noon, at 680 Peverly Hill Road. Bring proof of residency. Latex paint isn't accepted.

Not if your building is served by a private trash hauler. You can still take items to the Recycling Center yourself.

Portsmouth residents can drop compostable food waste at the Recycling Center during its regular hours. Mr. Fox Composting runs the program.

Sources

Where This Information Comes From

Program rules and fees belong to the agencies that run them. Confirm hours, fees and accepted items with them before you load up.

Too much for a curbside pickup?

Get Junk Removed in Portsmouth, NH

Tell us what needs to go and where it is on the property, and we'll take it from there.

We lift it. We load it. We haul it away.