Town Of Reading To Deliver New Trash, Recycling Carts To Residents Soon

READING, MA — The Town of Reading has received its new trash and recycling carts.

"Everything is progressing smoothly with the carts being assembled on-site as they come in," the town posted on Facebook. "We anticipate curbside cart delivery to residents beginning later this week as planned, and will share updates as we have them."

The Town of Reading posted the following on its website:

Beginning on April 8th, the Town of Reading will roll out new trash and recycling carts to all households currently receiving Town collection. This will include a green 64-gallon trash cart and a blue 96-gallon recycling cart. Seniors (60+) or residents with disabilities shall receive priority and can request a smaller 48-gallon trash cart, a 48-gallon recycling cart, or a 64-gallon recycling cart by contacting the Department of Public Works at 781-439-6930.

For multi-unit residential buildings currently receiving trash and recycling collection by the Town, each residence in the building will receive the standard issued 1 – (64) gallon trash cart and 1 – (96) gallon recycling cart, unless a smaller cart option is requested.

All carts are property of the Town of Reading and must remain with this property. Please do not paint or affix any permanent markings on the carts.

Residents can begin using their new carts immediately. In July of 2026, use of the new carts will become mandatory as the Town will be moving to automated pickups with the new trash and recycling contract.

There will be no changes to the current policies on amount of trash put out or bulk items. Residents may still leave one bulk item out on their pickup day. Click the "Bulk item Collection" on the left-hand menu for more info on what is considered a bulk item.

What can I do with my old containers?

The Town is offering two ways to dispose of your old carts, containers or bins:
On Saturday May 17, residents can bring their old containers to the Recycling Drop-Off Event at the DPW Garage, 75 Newcrossing Road between 9AM - 1PM to be recycled.

A special curbside collection event for resident’s existing trash and recycling containers will occur this summer on Saturdays starting on July 12 through August 9 where Republic Services will pick up your existing old containers free of charge. The dates for the special collection are below:

• July 12 - Monday trash route
• July 19 - Tuesday trash route
• July 26 - Wednesday trash route
• August 9 - Friday trash route

Old containers are also great to keep and use for storage, or use them to hold indoor recycling to transfer to your new outdoor bin.

If you have any questions, call the DPW office at 781-439-6930 or open a SeeClickFix request.