Appliances and Electronics That Cannot Go in the Dumpster

The hiss from a refrigerator door that is pulled open after sitting shut for a year is the first sign a cleanout has a special item in it. The notes at redding junk removal hot lake springs on junk removal in Redding, CA start with that kind of item, because Shasta County houses collect them in garages and back bedrooms for decades.

Refrigerators and freezers

Any cold appliance holds refrigerant, and older units carry freon that must be recovered by a certified technician before the shell is scrapped. A chest freezer in the garage counts the same as a kitchen refrigerator. The crew empties it, wedges the door open for transport, and takes it to appliance recycling instead of the dumpster.

Televisions, computers and e waste

Old tube televisions, monitors, printers and laptops are e waste. They contain lead glass, batteries and circuit boards, which is why electronics recycling takes them and the landfill does not. A crew sorts them into one box on the truck so nothing gets crushed under a sofa and cracked open. Cathode ray sets weigh more than they look, so two people lift them.

Mattresses and box springs

A mattress and box spring are bulky, awkward and hard to load flat. Where mattress recycling is available, the crew keeps them dry and loaded last so they come off first at the drop point. A mattress that has been rained on is refused more often than a dry one, so a tarp over the trailer matters.

Hot tubs and large fixtures

A hot tub cannot be lifted out in one piece. The shell is cut, the electrical panel is disconnected by a licensed hand, and the pieces go to a dump trailer or a roll off dumpster in sections. The cabinet and insulation are landfill. The pump and heater go to metal recycling. A hot tub on a concrete pad near Turtle Bay can take a half day alone.

Paint, batteries and the transfer station

Paint, solvents, car batteries and propane are household hazardous waste, and the transfer station takes them under separate rules than ordinary junk. These items are not mixed into the general load. Landfill staff weigh the main load, issue a weight ticket, and charge a tipping fee by weight, so hazardous material hidden inside it can turn a clean load into a refused one.