What Can’t Go in a Dumpster in Pennsylvania

Published 2026-09-30 by Lake Erie Dumpsters 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, brick, plaster. Pennsylvania keeps a specific set of things out of landfills because they are hazardous, recyclable by law, or both, and Lake View Landfill will reject a container that has them in it. Here is what stays out and where it goes instead.

TVs, computers and monitors

Under Pennsylvania’s Covered Device Recycling Act, since 24 January 2013 nobody may put a desktop or laptop computer, monitor, computer peripheral or TV in with municipal waste, and haulers and landfills may not knowingly accept them. They go to an electronics recycler: Erie County Recycling’s collection days, or the retail take-back programmes the County lists. Our junk removal crew routes them to a recycler, never the landfill.

Lead-acid batteries, leaves and liquids

Pennsylvania’s landfill rules (25 Pa. Code § 273.201) say lead-acid batteries may not be disposed at a municipal waste landfill, loads composed primarily of leaf waste may not be disposed there either, and containers holding free liquid are refused unless they are under a gallon; hazardous waste is refused outright. Car batteries go back to a retailer or scrap yard, leaves go to a compost site, and liquids never go in a roll-off.

Tires

Tires do not go in a roll-off. The City of Erie’s curbside will not take them, and tire collections run through the municipalities and PA DEP’s waste tire programme; ask your township office when the next one is.

Paint and household chemicals

PA DEP says latex paint is not hazardous and can go out with the regular trash once it is dried solid with kitty litter or shredded newspaper; never put liquid paint in the trash. Oil-based paint, stains, varnishes, solvents, pesticides and similar chemicals go to a household hazardous waste collection: Erie County Recycling runs pre-registered collection days for county residents (814-451-7326), which also take electronics, for a per-pound fee.

Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners

Anything that still holds refrigerant needs the gas recovered by a certified technician under section 608 of the Clean Air Act before it is scrapped. The City of Erie’s bulk pickup does not take large appliances at all. Our junk removal crew handles the recovery and disposal; a fridge does not go in a dumpster with the gas still in it.

Asbestos

Asbestos never rides in a mixed load. Lake View Landfill accepts friable and non-friable asbestos by arrangement, and PA DEP requires a notification through its Greenport system at least ten working days before a regulated demolition or renovation, with a $400 fee for 2026 to 2030. DEP does not regulate asbestos removal from private residences unless the building has five or more units, but the Department of Labor and Industry requires five days’ notice for friable abatement over three square or linear feet. Older Erie houses can have asbestos in floor tile, siding, pipe insulation and plaster, so have suspect material tested before a gut renovation.

What the City will not collect either

If you were thinking of skipping the dumpster and using the City service: Erie’s bulk pickup is by appointment ((814) 870-1550) and limited to three bulky items, and the City will not collect large appliances, car batteries, tires, electronics, household hazardous waste or construction materials. Corry’s service refuses concrete, asphalt, dirt and contractor debris; Millcreek sends construction materials in any real quantity to a separate hauler. Everything on those lists 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, cabinets and fixtures. Which is nearly everything. Call (814) 679-3372 if you are unsure about a specific item and we will tell you before you load it.

Lake Erie Dumpsters Co · Erie, PA · (814) 679-3372, answered 24/7.