The City of McKinney picks up bulky items by appointment only, with up to 12 free collections a year. You book through the Waste Wizard before noon on the business day before your collection day. Yard waste goes out weekly with no booking, and household hazardous waste is collected at the curb by request.
How do you book a McKinney bulky item pickup?
McKinney doesn't send a truck down every street once a month. Bulky items are collected by appointment only, according to the City of McKinney's residential trash page. Each household gets up to 12 free collections a year.
Requests go through the city's online Waste Wizard. The cutoff is noon on the business day before your collection day. A Friday-morning request covers a Monday pickup, but a Sunday-night request misses it.
Twelve free pickups go a long way for most homes. After the 12th in a year, the city charges a fee, and a fee can also apply to excessive quantities. Ask the city what that charge is before you plan a huge set-out.
How much can you set out at one time?
Each appointment has a size box. Everything has to fit within 3.5 feet tall, 3 feet deep and 9 feet long. The other way to qualify is two large household pieces.
Measure the spot along the curb before you start dragging things out. Nine feet sounds long until a dresser, a headboard and a broken patio set share it.
Items McKinney's bulky route refuses
The exclusion list is short, but it catches the piles people most want gone. The city's bulky collection will not take:
- Construction and demolition materials, plus pallets.
- Tires and household hazardous waste.
- Bagged yard waste, which has its own weekly route with its own bag rule.
- Auto parts and trash bags.
How does McKinney yard waste pickup work?
Yard waste is picked up every week, and you don't need to schedule it. The weekly cap is 10 bags or bundles in total. Here's how the city wants it prepared:
- Cut limbs into 4-foot lengths, no more than 6 inches in diameter.
- Tie brush bundles with string or twine, and keep each bundle at 50 pounds or less.
- Put leaves in brown paper bags.
When the brush pile is bigger than ten bundles
Ten bundles a week covers routine trimming. A cracked oak limb after a spring storm can fill that quota several times over. At ten a week, one downed limb can take several weeks of set-outs to clear.
Wood thicker than 6 inches doesn't fit the curbside rules at all. That usually means a trunk section, a stump or the base of a big limb. Those need a drop-off trip or a hauler.
For a side-by-side look at brush options around the county, read our guide to yard waste and brush disposal in Collin County.
Drop-off sites open to McKinney residents
If you'd rather haul it yourself, McKinney lists four places. They are the Custer Road, Lookout Drive and Parkway transfer stations, plus the 121 Regional Disposal Facility in Melissa.
The first two drop-off visits each month are free for McKinney households. Bring a McKinney water bill dated within the last 30 days and a matching Texas driver's license.
The regional district says the same thing from its side. NTMWD's solid waste facilities page lets member-city residents use its Citizen Convenience Centers twice a month with a city utility bill showing solid-waste service.
- The 121 Regional Disposal Facility is a landfill at 3820 Sam Rayburn Hwy in Melissa.
- It's open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- For yard waste only, the city points residents to Living Earth at 1385 Ranchette Rd in Celina.
Where do you take hazardous waste in McKinney?
You don't take it anywhere. McKinney picks up household hazardous waste at the curb on your regular collection day, by request. The request is due before noon on the prior business day, per the city's household hazardous waste and e-waste page.
Each household gets up to 12 hazardous waste pickups and 12 e-waste pickups a year at no charge. A single pickup is limited to 2 boxes, each 20 by 20 by 20 inches. Each box can hold up to 5 gallons or 50 pounds.
Don't drive old paint or pool chemicals to the Municipal Service Center at 3501 N Central Expy. The city says it is not a state-permitted household hazardous waste drop-off, and it doesn't take walk-ins.
Paint, oil and chemicals: what a hauler can't carry either
The state's own list backs up the city program. TCEQ's household hazardous waste contacts list shows an ongoing home-collection pickup for McKinney residents.
Private haulers have limits too. We don't take wet paint, chemicals, motor oil, asbestos, ammunition or tires. If those are mixed into a garage pile, set them aside for the city's chemical pickup and we'll take the rest.
Our Collin County household hazardous waste guide explains what counts as hazardous and how the other cities handle it.
Old fridges, washers and electronics
This guide doesn't have a verified McKinney rule on curbside appliances. Check McKinney's trash services page before you roll a fridge or freezer to the curb.
State rules matter here. TCEQ's special waste page bars refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and other items containing CFCs from disposal in any municipal solid waste facility. They have to be handled under federal refrigerant rules instead.
Electronics have a simpler path, since the city's 12 free e-waste pickups cover most homes. For fridges, washers and dryers, our guide to getting rid of old appliances walks through the options.
When is a hauler faster than the city?
The city programs do a good job with one couch, a few bundles of limbs or a box of old cleaners. They slow down when a pile outgrows the 9-foot box, includes remodel scrap, or needs carrying out of an attic.
We're based in McKinney, so junk pickup anywhere in McKinney is close to home for us. We carry items out from wherever they sit and price by how much room the load takes on the trailer. A minimum pickup starts from $189, and same-day service is offered when available.
- Storm limbs, stumps or a full brush pile: McKinney yard debris and brush hauling. Big clearing jobs may need rented equipment, so those get scheduled.
- A sectional, a sleeper sofa or a whole bedroom set: furniture removal in McKinney.
- A garage or attic that's past the point of curbside trips: garage and attic cleanouts in McKinney.
How a hauler job goes
Send photos for a quote. Pick a time. We haul it off and sweep up.
The firm price is confirmed on site before anything is loaded, and you pay at the end. Comparing cities? The Collin County bulk pickup roundup lists each city's program side by side.