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What Can Go In the Container

Illinois does not leave this to the hauler's discretion — several categories are banned from landfills by statute. Knowing the list before the container arrives saves you a rejected load.

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The short version

Goes in without a problem

Household junk, furniture, mattresses, carpet and underlay
Drywall, lumber, trim, doors, cabinetry, flooring
Roofing shingles, underlayment, flashing
Siding, decking, fencing, gutters

Scrap metal, pipework, radiators
Bathroom and kitchen fixtures (drained)
Clean concrete, brick, block and dirt — in a dedicated heavy container
General non-hazardous commercial clear-out waste

Banned by Illinois statute

These are not our rules

Illinois banned each of these from landfill disposal by law, in some cases decades ago. No hauler in the state can take them in a general container.

Item	Since	Where it has to go instead
Tyres	Public Act 86-452, effective 1994	Tyre retailer or a county collection event
Landscape waste grass, leaves, brush	Public Act 85-1430, effective 1990	Village yard-waste collection or a composting site
Lead-acid vehicle batteries	1990	Any retailer that sells batteries must accept them
Electronics TVs, monitors, computers, printers	Illinois e-waste law	County or municipal e-waste drop-off
Appliances with refrigerant fridges, freezers, A/C	Federal and state rules	Refrigerant must be removed by a certified technician first
Liquid paint, motor oil, solvents	Hazardous waste rules	Household hazardous waste collection
Propane tanks	Hazardous waste rules	Exchange programme or hazardous waste site
Asbestos	Strictly regulated	Licensed abatement contractor only

Why this matters to you, not just to us

Loads are inspected at the transfer station. A container with banned material in it can be refused, which means it comes back to your site full, or the material has to be picked out by hand. Either way your job stops. A thirty second question on the phone avoids all of it.

Grey areas

Things people ask about constantly

Latex paint — liquid paint cannot go in, but paint that has been dried out completely (lid off, or with hardener) is generally acceptable. Oil-based paint is hazardous either way.

Mattresses — fine in most containers, though some transfer stations handle them separately. Mention them when you book.

Treated lumber — fine. Railway sleepers and creosote timber are not.

Empty aerosols and paint tins — fine if genuinely empty and dry.

Old fuel, propane cylinders, pool chemicals — no, and please do not hide them under other debris. They are a genuine fire risk in a packer truck.

Mixed construction debris in a roll-off container

Common questions

What people ask when they call

What happens if something banned ends up in my container?

Best case we spot it on collection and pull it out. Worst case the transfer station refuses the load. Tell us if you are unsure about something rather than burying it and hoping.

Can I put yard waste in if it is just a little?

No. The landscape waste ban has no small-quantity exemption, and mixing it into a general load contaminates the container. Your village almost certainly runs a separate yard-waste collection.

What about the fridge in the garage?

Only once the refrigerant has been recovered by a certified technician and the unit is tagged. Some scrap metal dealers handle this as part of taking the appliance.

Is there anything I should keep out even though it is legal?

Anything worth scrapping separately — copper, brass, heavy steel. It is your material and a scrap dealer may well take it off your hands rather than you paying to bury it.