Why You Should Think Twice About Using Free Junk Haulers in Austin

Staring down a sizable pile of junk can be overwhelming, especially when there’s also a deadline looming. Getting rid of more than average household waste isn’t always easy, especially in Austin. When bulk collection through Austin Resource Recovery happens only twice per year, it’s easy to be tempted by the call of free junk haulers. Still, it’s wise to think twice. There’s a reason why you should look carefully at a solution that sounds too good to be true. Free disposal for a large junk pile certainly falls into such a category.

Services offered by the City are funded by you, but you don’t have to pay for them at the time of service. Bulk collection through the municipal waste management services at Austin Resource Recovery, however, are not offered on demand.

With an ambitious Zero Waste by 2040 goal, the City of Austin is working hard to adopt more sustainable disposal practices. While this is best for the environment and the community, it can affect how municipal bulk collection services are offered. Learn more about bulk collection in Austin, and how what looks like a budget option can end up costing more in the long run.

The Hidden Cost of Free Junk Haulers

For household waste, you likely rely upon Austin Resource Recovery. Twice each year, municipal waste management services offer bulk collection to residential customers, with costs rolled into fees you already pay. As long as you don’t incur fees by breaking rules or regulations, you don’t have to pay anything for collection throughout the week. Technically, that makes Austin Resource Recovery free junk haulers for two weeks out of the year, but there are some things to consider.

First and foremost, you’ll need to be capable of handling some heavy lifting. Items must be moved down to the curb for collection, arranged into three separate piles: non-metal items, metal items (including appliances) and passenger vehicle tires removed from their rims. Items in the latter two categories find their way to the appropriate recycling facilities. Everything in the first pile, however, goes straight to the nearest landfill. This includes furniture and household items, even those in usable condition.

Items must be placed in these three distinctly separate piles at the curb at least five feet from all walls, fences, parked vehicles, utility meters and poles, mailboxes and trash carts. Items must not be placed under any low-hanging tree limbs or power lines. All doors must be removed from appliances to prevent children from climbing inside and becoming trapped. What about large volumes of smaller items, though? Cleaning out the garage or emptying the attic can yield plenty of unwanted odds and ends, but this isn’t the time for tossing them.

Bulk collection week in Austin is expressly intended for items too large to fit into a container. For this reason, any items placed in bags, boxes or other containers will be considered extra trash and, as such, subject to extra trash fees. This means your free junk haulers can quickly add up in fines, fees and penalties if you accidentally deviate from the rules and regulations set forth by Austin Resource Recovery. This is, of course, assuming you’re able to make your project deadline work around the two weeks of each year when these services are even offered.

Real life seldom waits for the City’s schedule. Clearing out unwanted items before a big move, doing the difficult and draining work of closing an estate or working to get a rental house back on the market are time sensitive tasks. Time really is money and free junk haulers offered by municipal services become quite expensive when you add up the opportunity cost. You can’t wait six months for the next bulk collection week. When you need waste management on your schedule, you’ll need private removal.

Faster, More Efficient and More Ethical Disposal

You need to clear out unwanted junk, but you also need to keep your environmental impact as small as possible. No one wants to sacrifice the good of the planet to clean out their basement. This means working with a private waste management provider who understands the importance of greener, more ethical disposal.

At Jiffy Junk, we’ve built our business around providing the very best in white-glove, full-service waste removal. We also believe you don’t have to sacrifice sustainability to provide excellent customer service, so we work hard to pass on the tiniest possible environmental footprint to our customers.

When our trained and knowledgeable removal technicians come to your home or place of business to remove items you no longer want or need, we make sure to separate items in usable condition. These are always diverted to local donation centers, ensuring they stay in the community and out of the landfill. Everything else, we deliver to recycling and sustainable disposal facilities, working hard to avoid the landfill whenever possible.

While we’re on your property, we do all the heavy lifting. There’s no need to drag heavy items down to the curb; we’ll remove bulky furniture from where pieces sit or uninstall appliances. Our technicians will even remove carpeting marked for disposal and tear out padding as part of our white-glove promise. When we’re finished, we’ll leave your space swept clean and free of any lingering dust bunnies.

There are plenty of things on your to-do list that only you can handle but getting rid of the trash isn’t among them. We’re here to take the work of managing waste, off your hands, making quick work of even the biggest jobs with no stress and no scheduling anxiety. Call us today to learn more about our sustainability promise, our white-glove guarantee and how we’re working to be a better neighbor in Austin.