What Can’t Go in a Dumpster in New York State

Published 2026-09-29 by Buffalo Dumpster Co.

Why the list exists

Most of what comes out of a house or a job site goes straight into one of our containers: furniture, wood, drywall, roofing, carpet, concrete, yard waste. New York State keeps a specific set of things out of the waste stream because they are hazardous, recyclable by law, or both, and the transfer stations that take our loads will reject a container that has them in it. Here is what stays out and where it goes instead.

Electronics

Under the New York State Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, since January 2015 consumers may not put covered electronics in the trash, at the curb or in a landfill: computers, laptops, tablets, TVs, monitors, printers, keyboards, DVD players, game consoles, DVRs and their cables. Manufacturers must take them back free. In the City of Buffalo residents can drop electronics at 1120 Seneca Street (weekdays 8 to 2 and the first Saturday of the month), five items a year.

Batteries

Rechargeable batteries (nickel-cadmium, sealed lead, lithium-ion, nickel-metal hydride, and e-bike and e-scooter packs) are illegal to throw in the trash under Environmental Conservation Law Article 27, Title 18; retailers that sell them must accept them free. Lead-acid vehicle batteries have been banned from the trash since 1991 under Title 17, and any retailer will take up to two a month at no charge. Ordinary single-use alkaline batteries are not covered.

Mercury items and fluorescent tubes

New York’s Mercury-Added Consumer Products Law prohibits disposing of mercury thermostats, thermometers, switches and fluorescent lamps in solid waste. Households may put fluorescent lamps in ordinary trash only where the municipality allows it, and Buffalo directs them to the universal-waste drop-off at 1120 Seneca Street instead. Businesses may not trash lamps at all; they go through the state’s universal waste rules.

Paint and household chemicals

New York’s Postconsumer Paint Collection Program takes back architectural paint (latex and oil house paint, primers, stains, sealers and clear finishes in containers up to five gallons) through PaintCare drop-off sites, funded by a fee paid at purchase. Oil-based paint, solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals, automotive fluids and similar household hazardous waste should go to a collection programme rather than a dumpster. In Erie County that is the county’s HHW programme: residents can get a year-round voucher for up to 50 pounds free at Hazman in Tonawanda by appointment, or book a free drive-through collection event; the next one is in the Town of Hamburg on 7 November 2026, with registration opening in October. The county line is (716) 858-6800. The events take automotive fluids, paints, solvents, pesticides, chemicals, mercury devices, one-pound propane cylinders and household batteries; they do not take large propane tanks, electronics, medications, asbestos, tires, fire extinguishers or fluorescent bulbs.

Tires

Tires are excluded from construction and demolition debris under state rules, so they cannot go in a roll-off with the rest of a cleanout. Under the Waste Tire Management and Recycling Act, tire retailers must accept used tires when you buy new ones (an equal number, up to $2.50 a tire), and the City of Buffalo runs periodic tire-collection days at the Broadway Garage, 197 Broadway.

Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners

Anything that still holds refrigerant is excluded from C&D debris in New York, and federal rules (Clean Air Act section 608) require the refrigerant to be recovered by a certified technician before the appliance is scrapped. Our junk-removal crew can arrange recovery and disposal; a refrigerator does not go in a dumpster with the door still on and the gas still in it.

Asbestos

Friable asbestos, the kind that crumbles by hand, is not C&D debris and never goes in a dumpster. New York requires abatement by a licensed contractor under the Department of Labor’s Industrial Code Rule 56, and disposal at a permitted facility. Older Buffalo houses can have asbestos in pipe insulation, floor tile, siding and plaster, so have suspect material tested before a gut renovation.

What the City of Buffalo will not collect either

If you were thinking of skipping the dumpster and using the City tote, note that City Code § 216-15(C) says construction and demolition debris and fill may not be placed in the City’s receptacles, § 216-14(C) keeps electronics off the curb, and illegal dumping on any street or right-of-way carries a $2,200 fine. The City’s own sanitation page puts it in capitals: no TVs, computers, tires, construction debris or hazardous waste at the curb. Residents of owner-occupied one- and two-family homes can take up to a ton a year of debris to the East Side Transfer Station at 793 South Ogden Street; everything else is what a roll-off is for.

What does go in

Household junk, furniture, mattresses, carpet, wood, drywall, plaster, roofing shingles, concrete, brick, tile, siding, windows, yard waste, cabinets and fixtures. Which is nearly everything. Call (716) 303-4728 if you are unsure about a specific item and we will tell you before you load it.

Buffalo Dumpster Co. · 747 Walden Ave, Buffalo, NY 14211 · (716) 303-4728, answered 24/7.