5 Things You Can’t Throw in the Trash in Oregon (and What to Do Instead)

Most of what we haul in Salem can go in a regular trash load. A handful of things cannot, and Oregon is stricter about it than most states. Put the wrong item in your curbside cart or a transfer station load and the best case is a rejected load and a fee; the worst case is a fine from DEQ or a fire in a garbage truck. Here are the five categories we get asked about most, what Oregon law actually says, and where each one goes instead in the Salem area.

1. Electronics: TVs, computers, and monitors

Oregon banned computers, monitors, laptops, and televisions from garbage disposal in 2010 under the Oregon E-Cycles law. Since then, printers, keyboards, mice, and tablets have been added. You cannot legally put them in your cart or take them to the transfer station as trash. Instead, Oregon E-Cycles collection sites take them free of charge; in the Salem area that includes several thrift stores and the Salem-Keizer Recycling & Transfer Station’s electronics drop-off. If you have a garage full of old monitors and tube TVs, we haul them for you and route them through the E-Cycles program. See our guide on how to dispose of old electronics for the details.

2. Tires

Whole tires are banned from Oregon landfills. Transfer stations accept them, but only for a per-tire fee, and tractor or truck tires cost significantly more. Tires are one of the most common things we find in barns and behind shops on rural properties around Silverton, Stayton, and Dallas, and they are a big reason a rural clean-out load costs more than a residential one. We separate them out and pay the tire fee on your behalf; it is built into the quote.

3. Paint, solvents, and household chemicals

Latex and oil-based paint, stains, thinners, pesticides, pool chemicals, and automotive fluids are household hazardous waste and cannot go in the trash. Oregon runs the PaintCare program, which takes leftover paint and stain free at participating paint and hardware stores, including several in Salem. Everything else goes to Marion County’s household hazardous waste facility, which operates next to the Salem-Keizer transfer station on set days. Fully dried latex paint is the one exception: once it is hard, it can go in the garbage. Our crew pulls chemicals out of every clean-out before loading and drops them at the HHW facility separately, so you do not have to make that trip.

4. Batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and other mercury items

Lead-acid car batteries are banned from Oregon landfills and are worth money at scrap yards, so we always pull them. Rechargeable lithium batteries, including the ones in power tools and e-bikes, are a fire hazard in garbage trucks and must go to a battery drop-off. Fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs contain mercury and go to HHW or a hardware-store take-back, not the cart. Old thermostats with mercury switches are the same. None of these are hard to get rid of, but none of them go in the trash.

5. Refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners

Any appliance containing refrigerant cannot be landfilled until the refrigerant is professionally removed under federal rules. The Salem-Keizer transfer station charges an extra fee for appliances with refrigerant to cover that. We haul fridges, freezers, and window units regularly through our appliance removal service, and the refrigerant fee is included in your price. Read more in our appliance removal guide for Salem homeowners.

Where Salem’s trash actually goes

Unlike most of Oregon, Marion County does not landfill most of its garbage. Household waste from Salem is burned at the county’s waste-to-energy facility in Brooks, which is exactly why the rules above are enforced: batteries, chemicals, and refrigerants create real problems in that process. Recyclables, yard debris, and metal are pulled out first at the Marion Resource Recovery Facility. Our post on where to take junk in Salem lists every drop-off site and what each one costs.

What we take that the trash won’t

Every item on this list is something we haul routinely. The difference is that we know which facility takes what, we pay the specialty fees so you are not surprised at the gate, and we do it in one trip instead of five. For a full list, see what junk removal companies won’t take, which covers the few things even we cannot haul, like asbestos and medical waste.

Skip the sorting

Call or text (971) 226-7435 with a photo and we will quote it, sort it, and haul it, including the tires, the paint, and the old TVs. Or request a free quote online.