As we head into the holiday season, we want to share some important reminders about our collection services.
Garbage, recycling, and food and yard waste will NOT be collected on these upcoming holidays:
- Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 27, 2025
- Christmas Day – Thursday, December 25, 2025
- New Year’s Day – Thursday, January 1, 2026
If your regular collection day falls on one of these holidays, your service will be delayed by one day.
- Thursday customers will have their waste collected on Friday
- Friday customers will be collected on Saturday
Customers with Monday – Wednesday collections won’t see any changes.
The City of Seattle’s North and South Transfer Stations will also be closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Normal hours will resume the following day.
Don’t forget to compost trees & greens this holiday season!
Customers can compost trees and holiday greens for free from December 26 – January 31! Remove all decorations, cut into sections 4-foot or less, and place trees or bundled greens next to your Food & Yard Waste cart on your regular collection day. Apartment residents may place up to two trees next to each Food & Yard waste cart at no charge. You can also drop off up to 3 trees less than 8 feet in length at a Transfer Station.
To find out what to do with your other holiday items once you’re done with them, check out SPU’s Where Does It Go lookup tool.
Snow/ice collection delays
During the winter season, snow and icy roads may prevent Seattle Public Utilities’ contracted haulers from collecting garbage, recycling, or food/ yard waste. Collection trucks can weigh up to 30 tons and cannot safely navigate icy streets the same way our cars can. In the case of severe weather, there are several places to go to find out whether your collection has been postponed:
- Seattle Public Utilities’ website
- Seattle Public Utilities’ At Your Service Blog
- SPU’s social media accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram
- Sign up for Seattle Public Utilities alerts through AlertSeattle
- Download the Recycle It app
- Posted updates via Nextdoor.com
Thank you for your patience as we plan for inclement weather and navigate our holiday schedule.