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How to Get Rid of Big and Hazardous Stuff in Greater Portland, Maine: Mattresses, Appliances, Paint, and E-Waste
The old refrigerator goes to the curb on trash night. In the morning, everything else is gone and the fridge is still there, now with a bright sticker on it telling you the crew is not allowed to take it. This is the moment most people learn that the regular bag-and-bin rules stop at the edge of the ordinary. A mattress, a dead TV, a can of half-used deck stain, a propane tank: none of it goes in the trash, and almost none of it goes in the recycling either.
The rules for everyday trash are their own tangle, covered in our trash and recycling by town guide. This is the other half: the big stuff and the dangerous stuff. Sort any item you are trying to lose into one of two piles and the whole thing gets simpler. Is it big (furniture, appliances, mattresses)? Or is it hazardous (anything that burns, poisons, or holds a charge)? The answer sends it down a completely different path, and the path changes by town. Here is how it actually works across Greater Portland, checked in July 2026 against town public works pages, ecomaine, and Riverside Recycling.
First, why your trash hauler leaves it behind
Almost every town within 25 minutes of Portland sends its household trash to the same place: ecomaine, the community-owned nonprofit at 64 Blueberry Road that burns trash for energy and runs the region's single-sort recycling. ecomaine is the reason recycling rules are uniform across town lines. It is also the reason big and hazardous items get stranded, because ecomaine is not equipped or legally permitted to take them. Refrigerators, mattresses, televisions, paint, chemicals, and propane tanks are all on its unacceptable list. Your curbside crew knows that, which is why they leave them.
So these items need a different destination. For most of them, there are two: your own town's system, or the regional catch-all, Riverside Recycling.
Big stuff: bulky items, appliances, and furniture, by town
Bulky waste means anything too large for a bag or bin: couches, mattresses, tables, grills, appliances. There is no regional program. Each town handles it differently, and the gap between the cheapest and the most annoying route is real.
Portland runs a Bulky Waste Collection Permit for curbside pickup. You apply through the city, then set the items out only on the day the permit assigns, not just any trash night. The city updates its per-item and appliance fees on the Public Works page, so confirm the current charge with Portland Public Works before you drag anything to the curb rather than trusting an old number from a junk-removal ad.
South Portland has no large-item curbside pickup at all. Permitted bulky items go to the city's Transfer Facility, where an Accepted Items and Fee Schedule sets the cost by item. Call Public Works at 207-767-7635 before you load the truck so you know what they will take and what it runs.
Falmouth sends anything bigger than a yellow town trash bag to the Transfer Station on Woods Road. You buy green Transfer Station disposal tags at the Public Works office, open Monday through Thursday from 7 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon, and certain materials also need disposal tickets that run 5 dollars each, sold around town at Town Hall, Public Works, Shaw's, Hannaford, Town Landing Market, and Waldo's. Falmouth's curbside hauler is Casella, the company formerly known as Pine Tree Waste; the Public Works line is 207-781-3919.
Cape Elizabeth is the easiest of the group. The town Recycling Center on Dennison Drive takes major appliances, and Public Works offers free pickup of refuse, bulky items, and appliances if you call ahead, with a limited number of slots each Wednesday. Book early in the week and it costs you nothing. Cape has no curbside trash at all, so the Recycling Center is the hub for everything.
The regional fallback, any town: Riverside Recycling at 910 Riverside Street in Portland is open to the public Monday through Saturday, 7:30 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon, and takes what the towns and ecomaine will not: appliances (including ones with Freon), demolition debris, tree stumps, and general bulky waste, priced by weight or item. If your town route is closed, full, or more hassle than it is worth, this is the catch-all.
Mattresses are their own headache
Mattresses deserve their own line because they trip everyone up. They are not recyclable in your curbside bin, most charities will not accept a used one, and unlike California, Connecticut, Oregon, and Rhode Island, Maine has no free statewide mattress take-back program funded by manufacturers. That leaves three real options: put it through your town's bulky-waste route above, haul it to a transfer station or Riverside yourself, or pay a private mattress recycler that does pickups across Greater Portland. There is no free-and-easy path, so budget either the disposal fee or the trip.
Hazardous stuff: paint, chemicals, propane, and the HHW day
Household hazardous waste, or HHW, is the pile that can burn, corrode, poison, or explode: old paint, pool chemicals, motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides, drain cleaner, gasoline, propane tanks. None of it belongs in the trash, and pouring it down a drain sends it toward Casco Bay. In Greater Portland, the main door for all of it is one Saturday a month.
Riverside Recycling runs its Household Hazardous Waste collection on the first Saturday of each month, April through November, from 7:30 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon. It is open to all Maine residents, not just Portland's, and the price depends on whether you hold a Portland E-Card. Portland E-Card holders can drop up to 10 gallons of HHW a year at no charge, across a maximum of two visits. Residents without an E-Card pay 6.50 dollars per gallon for liquid waste or 3.50 dollars per pound for solid waste. Businesses and municipalities cannot use the program.
A few rules make the day go smoothly. Keep liquids in sturdy, capped containers, ideally the original, so the staff can read what is inside. Do not mix chemicals together. Hazardous waste has to be dropped before you recycle anything else on site, and you stay in your vehicle while trained staff unload it. If the first Saturday lands on a holiday weekend, check Riverside's holiday schedule, because that month's collection is usually skipped rather than moved.
Paint is the exception that saves you money. Maine is a PaintCare state, which means leftover latex, oil, and stain get recycled for free at drop-off sites, most of them paint and hardware retailers, listed by ZIP code at paintcare.org. Paint dropped through PaintCare does not count against your E-Card's HHW allowance, so bring cans there first and save the paid gallons for the truly toxic stuff. Propane and other gas tanks go to the HHW day, not the trash.
Electronics and batteries: banned from the bin
Maine law keeps electronic waste out of the trash, so anything with a cord, a battery, or a screen needs a recycler. That covers televisions, computers, monitors, printers, lamps, and small appliances. Riverside Recycling takes e-waste, and several retailers do too: Staples, Target, and Goodwill all run electronics take-back, and Maine law specifically requires cell phones to be recycled rather than tossed.
Batteries are the sleeper hazard. Rechargeable and lithium-ion batteries, the kind in phones, laptops, power tools, e-bikes, and vape pens, cause fires when they are crushed in a truck or at a sorting facility, so they never go in curbside trash or recycling. Drop them at Staples or find a location through call2recycle.org. Car and marine batteries go back to an auto-parts store. Old fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs go to ecomaine, and if you are pulling out an old mercury thermostat, ecomaine buys those back for 5 dollars each.
Before you throw it out, try giving it away
Plenty of the bulky pile is not broken, just unwanted, and a working couch or a decent dishwasher is worth more as a donation than as a disposal fee. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland runs a ReStore at 659 Warren Avenue in Portland that takes gently used furniture, appliances, and building materials, open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 4:30, with pickup available for large items and proceeds funding local affordable housing. Goodwill takes usable household goods and electronics. Cape Elizabeth's Recycling Center has a Swap Shop where a reusable chair or table finds a new home instead of the compactor. The rule of thumb: if it works and it is clean, someone will take it before you pay to bury it.
Quick reference: where each item actually goes
- Refrigerator, freezer, AC, dehumidifier (Freon): town bulky pickup or Riverside; needs refrigerant handling, expect a fee.
- Stove, washer, dryer, dishwasher, water heater: town bulky pickup, town recycling center, or Riverside.
- Mattress: town bulky route or private recycler; no free program in Maine.
- Couch, table, chairs: donate if usable (ReStore, Goodwill, Cape Swap Shop); otherwise town bulky route.
- Paint, stain, varnish: paintcare.org drop-off, free.
- Chemicals, motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides, propane: Riverside HHW day, first Saturday April to November.
- TVs, computers, printers, anything with a cord: Riverside, Staples, Target, or Goodwill.
- Rechargeable and lithium batteries: Staples or call2recycle.org, never the curb.
- Car battery: auto-parts store.
- Fluorescent tubes, CFLs, mercury thermostats: ecomaine.
FAQ
Can I put a mattress or couch out with the regular trash in Greater Portland?
No. Bulky items are not collected on a normal trash night in any Greater Portland town. Portland requires a Bulky Waste Collection Permit for curbside pickup, South Portland has no large-item curbside service and routes items to its Transfer Facility, Falmouth sends anything larger than a town bag to the Woods Road Transfer Station with a paid disposal tag, and Cape Elizabeth offers free scheduled pickup through Public Works. Put an item out without following your town's route and it gets left behind.
Where do I take household hazardous waste like old paint and chemicals near Portland?
Riverside Recycling at 910 Riverside Street in Portland runs a Household Hazardous Waste collection on the first Saturday of each month, April through November, 7:30 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon, open to all Maine residents. Paint is the exception: latex, oil, and stain are recycled for free at PaintCare drop-off sites listed at paintcare.org, and PaintCare does not count against a Portland E-Card's HHW allowance.
How much does it cost to drop off hazardous waste at Riverside Recycling?
Portland E-Card holders can drop up to 10 gallons of HHW per year at no charge, across a maximum of two visits. Residents without an E-Card pay 6.50 dollars per gallon for liquid waste or 3.50 dollars per pound for solid waste. Businesses and municipalities are not eligible for the program.
Why won't my trash service take my old refrigerator or TV?
Because both are banned from the ecomaine waste-to-energy and recycling facilities that serve the region. Refrigerators contain Freon that requires special handling, and Maine law keeps electronic waste out of the trash entirely. Appliances go to your town's bulky-waste route, a town recycling center, or Riverside Recycling; electronics go to Riverside or a retailer like Staples, Target, or Goodwill.
Does Maine have a free mattress recycling program?
No. Unlike California, Connecticut, Oregon, and Rhode Island, Maine has no statewide manufacturer-funded mattress take-back program. A used mattress has to go through your town's bulky-waste route, be hauled to a transfer station or Riverside Recycling yourself, or be picked up by a private mattress recycler for a fee. Most charities will not accept a used mattress.
What do I do with old rechargeable batteries and vape pens?
Never put them in curbside trash or recycling, because lithium-ion batteries start fires when they are crushed. Drop rechargeable batteries, power banks, and vape pens at Staples or a location found through call2recycle.org. Car and marine batteries go back to an auto-parts store.
Where can I donate furniture and appliances instead of paying to dispose of them?
The Habitat for Humanity ReStore at 659 Warren Avenue in Portland takes gently used furniture, appliances, and building materials, open Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 4:30, and offers pickup for large items. Goodwill accepts usable household goods and electronics, and Cape Elizabeth's Recycling Center runs a Swap Shop for reusable items. If it works and it is clean, donating is usually free and faster than a disposal run.
If you are still settling into the area, the same town-by-town logic runs through the cost of living in Portland, the trash and recycling rules, and the rest of our moving to Portland guide.