Special Bulk Pickup

At present, St. Mary's County Government does not provide residential curbside trash / recyclable collection services nor special bulk pick-up services because it is cost prohibitive. However, we are pleased to be able to assist our customers with managing their garbage, yard waste, recycling, and bulk trash though our six convenience centers, the St. Andrews landfill and some of our special recycling programs. By following the information provided and by initiating simple actions such as recycling, separating yard waste, properly setting out bulk trash items, and safely disposing of household hazardous waste, we trust your special bulk pick-up needs are addressed. If you would like to have curbside pick-up at your home or business, we suggest you contact one of the local private sector service providers. In addition, our customers can help make St. Mary's County a beautiful, litter-free, more sustainable County, by joining us in one or more of the following programs; Clean Community Programs, Neighborhood Litter Critter Program, Fall Clean-up Campaign and Adopt-A-County-Road all found on our Clean Community web page.

In the interim, if you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Solid Waste Manager at (301) 863-8400 ext. 3550.

Curb Side Collection

Due to the high cost of providing this service, St. Mary's County Government has not mandated curbside collection programs and currently does not provide curbside collection for either residential household waste or recyclables. However, curbside collection programs have been implemented by several private haulers in more densely populated residential neighborhoods where the economics of collection are more beneficial. Waste collection firms have poorer cost efficiencies when collection routes, even though in relatively dense housing neighborhoods, serve only a portion of the residences. When waste collection in a neighborhood is a combination of multiple waste haulers and a Convenience Center, no hauler can expect to have optimized cost-efficiencies. The result is higher cost to residents, as much as 30 percent higher, in comparison to those expected when one hauler provides all collection. Residents interested in having this service provided should contact their landlord, Homeowner's Association or a local waste / recycling contractor. Therefore, curbside collection of recyclables typically is only offered to neighborhoods that also have curbside waste collection. Thus, the first step toward implementing curbside collection of recyclable materials is to offer waste collection. Waste collection by privately operated route collection firms is practical only when several criteria are met. First, housing density must be relatively high to bring truck operation costs to desirable levels. Curbside collection in the most rural areas, where houses are separated by great distances, is usually not cost-effective. Second, historical practices have to be changed. The momentum of homeowners, that have long standing practices of burying or burning their waste on-site or have taken it to a Convenience Center for years, is often not easy to change, especially when use of the Convenience Center does not involve a fee. Third, the comprehensive system of Convenience Centers, while an important component of the County's existing solid waste management system, is a deterrent to a large portion of the County's population to switch to curbside collection of waste. In order to achieve greater curbside collection of waste, the County would have to reduce the number and a viability of the six (6) Convenience Centers that the residents currently rely on.