Welcome to the Official Web Site of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana

In several parts of Marion County, trash is collected by automated trucks. Automated collection makes trash collection cheaper, safer and cleaner. Costs are also reduced by preventing injury to DPW workers by heavy lifting and riding on the back of trucks. Public safety increases since the trash and trash containers are easier to manage and less likely to protrude into pathways. Public health is protected by keeping trash away from animals. Plus, our streets look cleaner and illegal dumping is less likely and easier to investigate.

Click here for a copy of DPW's Trash Cart brochure.

Each eligible residential unit is issued one DPW cart, which is assigned to the home and must remain there if the resident moves. Need more room? Your best bet is to recycle by signing up for curbside recycling or using one of the city's 28 drop-off sites. You can also purchase an additional cart at a cost of $65 each. While the first cart is the property of DPW, any additional cart(s) purchased is yours to keep.

If your cart is stolen or damaged, first call the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's non-emergency number at (317) 327-3811 to make a police report. Once you have this report number, give it to the Mayor's Action Center at 327-4MAC (4622) and ask for a replacement. When the police report is confirmed, a replacement cart will be delivered to your home.

Click here to learn when trash is collected at your home.

Helpful Hints
Place your cart at least five (5) feet away from any other object — cars, utility poles, fire hydrants, fences or buildings — with the arrow pointing away from your home. If the DPW trucks cannot safely reach your cart, your trash will not be collected. After pickup, secure your cart safely on your property.

Proper Trash Procedure *  Place all trash in bags. Trash can come loose when your cart is emptied. *  The carts have a limit of two hundred and fifty (250) pounds of trash. *  Bags of trash outside of the cart will not be picked up. *  Do not place bags of trash on top of your cart. *  Bagged or bundled leaves, sticks or cardboard should be placed in cart. *  During the autumn leaf collection period, you can place up to 30 bags of leaves a week near your  cart for separate pickup.

Heavy Trash
Heavy trash has it's own collection schedule. Click here to learn when heavy trash is collected at your home.

Please be sure to put only acceptable trash items in your cart to help keep our city clean and healthy. If legally unacceptable items are left for pickup, a DPW informational tag will notify you how to meet the pickup requirements in both English and Spanish.