What Can’t Go in a Dumpster in Illinois

Published 2026-09-30 by Peoria Dumpster Pros

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. Illinois keeps a specific set of things out of landfills because they are hazardous, recyclable by law, or both, and the transfer station will reject a container that has them in it. Here is what stays out and where it goes instead.

The Illinois landfill bans and their dates

Illinois EPA’s own list: landscape waste has been banned from landfills since 1 July 1990, lead-acid batteries since 1 September 1990, used tires and white goods with their components still in since 1 July 1994, and motor oil since 1 July 1996. Since 1 January 2012 it has also been illegal to put covered electronics (computers, monitors, keyboards and mice, printers, scanners, TVs, DVD players, games consoles and the like) in the trash. Peoria County adds mercury products, oil-based paint, untreated medical waste and lithium-ion batteries to the list it publishes for residents.

Landscape waste

Brush, leaves and grass have been out of Illinois landfills for more than thirty years. A clean load of green waste goes to a composting site instead, which is why we ask you to keep it out of a mixed construction box where you can. The City of Peoria collects yard waste at the curb from April to December for the small stuff. Our yard-waste page explains how we split it.

Tires, batteries and appliances

Whole tires do not go in a roll-off; the City of Peoria runs no tire programme, and Tazewell County holds resident tire collections by appointment. Lead-acid batteries go back to a retailer or a scrap yard, and Peoria County takes household batteries at its Sustainability office on North Sheridan Road. Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and other white goods are banned from landfills with their components in: the refrigerant is recovered by a certified technician and the appliance goes to a recycler, which is what our junk removal crew arranges.

Liquids, paint and household chemicals

Liquids and hazardous waste never go in a container. Peoria County runs household hazardous waste collections for residents from 7 am to noon at rotating sites (recent ones at the Peoria Transfer Station, Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe and Alpha Park in Bartonville), taking thinners, aerosols, pesticides and the like, but not latex or enamel paint: that goes to a PaintCare drop-off, or, for latex, dried out with cat litter and put in the normal trash, as the Tazewell County Health Department advises. Fluorescent tubes are not collected at the curb and go to a hazardous waste collection.

Electronics

Under Illinois’ Consumer Electronics Recycling Act it is illegal to put TVs, computers, monitors, printers and similar items in the trash or a landfill. The City of Peoria’s curbside will not take them either. Tazewell County Health Department runs appointment-only e-waste collections, and our junk removal crew routes electronics to a recycler rather than the transfer station.

Asbestos

Asbestos never rides in a mixed load. Illinois EPA requires a notification and a $150 fee at least ten working days before a regulated demolition or renovation, with licensed contractors through the Illinois Department of Public Health. Older Peoria houses on the West Bluff and in the North Valley can have asbestos in floor tile, siding, pipe insulation and plaster, so have suspect material tested before a gut renovation.

What the curb takes, and what it will not

Peoria’s curbside bulky collection is more generous than most: furniture, mattresses, carpet, and building materials such as wood and sheetrock are all collected. What it will not take is concrete, rock and dirt, tires, electronics, fluorescent tubes and hazardous materials. East Peoria’s curbside takes no building materials, bulk or landscape waste at all, and its cleanup weeks exclude shingles, siding, windows, wood, wallboard and tile. The County’s free-load programme at the transfer station excludes building materials, roofing, siding and windows. 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 (309) 223-3888 if you are unsure about a specific item and we will tell you before you load it.

Peoria Dumpster Pros · Peoria, IL · (309) 223-3888, answered 24/7.