Brush and Bulk Trash Collection

Collection Method

Residents of Chattanooga, Tennessee, To improve our yard waste and bulk trash collection process and guarantee equitable service across all neighborhoods, we're introducing a better system. The city will still be segmented into four distinct service zones.  This is designed to ensure that each street benefits from consistent monthly collection efforts. Under this new arrangement, collection trucks will be dedicated to each zone, circulating within their assigned areas to perform brush and bulk trash pickup at least once every month, eliminating the need for residents to call 311 to schedule these services.

 You can also view your service area by entering your address at  https://bit.ly/3IZDvZ5.

Brush and Bulk Collection Map Areas:

 Area 1: Lookout Valley, St Elmo, Alton Park, East Lake (Blue)    
 Area 2: North Chattanooga, Hixson (Green)    
 Area 3: Brainerd, East Chattanooga (Yellow)
 Area 4: East Brainerd, Highway 58 (Orange) 

Guidelines

• Wood waste may not be larger than 8-ft in length, 18-in in diameter, and 4 ft in height.
• Brush piles must not have garbage or other refuse stacked on top or intermixed.
• Brush must be separated out from bulk trash and leaves
• Small amounts of brush, bagged leaves, and bagged grass clippings may be placed inside your garbage container for weekly collection.
• LAND CLEARING WILL NOT BE COLLECTED
• Do not approach collection trucks while they are collecting.
• Brush should be natural wood such as tree limbs and hedge bushes. 
• No treated wood such as 2x4's, cross-ties, particle boards, and pallets.

Placement

• Brush must be assembled at only one location adjacent to or on the property where it was generated.
• Place brush separate from other items and at least 5 feet away from parked cars, mailboxes, and all other objects.
• Brush should be placed as near as practicable to a public street in front of the residence. Do not block the roadway, sidewalk, drainage ditch, or catch basins.
• Do not place brush over water meters or under low-hanging wires.
• Do not place brush in alleyways.

Contractors and Businesses

• Contractors who perform land clearing are not eligible for service.
• Businesses are not eligible for collection.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

311 can now be used to schedule bulk trash pickup, Public Works transitions service to service request system

Residents will be able to schedule bulk trash pickups through 311 and will be given an estimated pickup time, limiting items being left on curbs for undetermined periods of time.

Chattanooga, Tenn. (March 19, 2024) - The Chattanooga Department of Public Works will transition bulk trash collection services to a service request system, moving away from a rotating calendar schedule that required residents to place bulk trash curbside in accordance with a rotating zoned schedule. The collection system led to bulk items being left on curbs for prolonged periods of time. Under the new system residents can contact 311 to schedule a pickup.

Under the previous system, drivers would provide service to a given area for only a week at a time and wouldn’t be scheduled to revisit that area for another month. The process led to bulk items being left on curbs for days, sometimes weeks, at a time. Under the changes, residents can call 311, email 311@chattanooga.gov, or use the 311 app to request a pickup for bulk items and will be given an estimated timeframe for pickup. 

The operational changes will eliminate the need for residents to plan pickups around a predetermined schedule and reduce the time for bulk items to sit curbside before being collected, with the goal of items being picked up within eight business days of the request being made.

“Forcing residents to rely on an online schedule to have their trash picked up was a major inconvenience for them - and we received complaints that long periods without service was not good for neighborhoods,” said Ross Pitcairn, administrator for the Department of Public Works. “These adjustments will improve services in every neighborhood in Chattanooga and make for a much more efficient process for our employees.”

Brush pickup services will still be provided using a zoned method, but drivers will service each zone continuously, not on a rotating basis as they had under the previous system.

The new service model will begin on April 1, 2024 and will be applied to this year’s leaf pickup service, which begins on November 1, 2024.