Dumpster or Junk Removal for a Spokane Home Project?
Inside the city limits of Spokane, a container and a junk-removal service are not two prices for one job. One of them is not for sale to you at all. The City of Spokane states on its own residential page that use of temporary dumpsters from companies other than the City’s Solid Waste Collection is prohibited, and the city code bars another company’s roll-off box and private junk-removal hauling of solid waste. Inside the City, the container comes from the City, at published rates.
Outside the city limits — in Spokane Valley and in unincorporated Spokane County — the same job is an ordinary comparison. A private company brings a container or hauls the load away, and the figure you receive is a quote.
This page is for a household clearing a remodel, a garage, a move or a storm. Three things change which route is open: whether the address is inside the City of Spokane, whether the load holds a material no container will take, and where the container would stand. That last question is a permission of its own, set out in the exterior-service planning guide.
Quick route
| Your situation | Check first | Have ready |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the City of Spokane | The City’s own container service; another company’s container or junk-removal haul may not be used | City utility account number, written placement instructions, dates |
| A small load, or a few bulky items | The City’s bulky-item arrangement on your collection day; outside the City, your hauler | Item list, and whether an appliance holds refrigerant |
| A Spokane Valley or county address | A private container or haul-away company, plus the street owner’s permit for a container in the public way | A site plan, dates, and the load list |
| Paint, chemicals, batteries, bulbs, electronics, or possible asbestos | The material’s own disposal route, before any container is ordered | Material list and container condition |
Inside the city limits, the code names the supplier
The City’s solid waste code is direct about competition. It states that no person may provide solid waste collection or disposal services otherwise provided by the city’s solid waste departments, and it names the equipment that may not be used in the City without a contract, franchise, permit or written approval, including roll-off boxes, tilt-frame collection vehicles, private roll-off containers and container-delivery trucks. A roll-off box is defined there as a non-motorized container left at a site to receive trash, construction debris or garbage.
The same section reaches the hauling services a household might hire instead, stating that private junk-removal or hauling services are prohibited to the extent they involve collecting or hauling solid waste, including construction, demolition and landclearing waste.
The code writes one exception for private cleanup services, where the cleanup labor is substantially charged and the hauling is incidental. That sentence points to SMC 13.02.0119 for the definition of incidental hauling, and the section it points to now reads “REPEALED”. Two parts of the City’s own code therefore no longer agree. Ask the City’s solid waste department in writing before ordering a private container or hiring a haul-away service for an inside-city address.
What the City’s own container service is
The City rents temporary containers in four sizes, for two days to six months. An order runs through a Damage Release Form, one per property address and valid to the end of the calendar year, and the charges are billed to a City of Spokane utility account; a customer who sets up a new unsecured utilities account pays a $500 deposit before a container is delivered. The 3- and 6-cubic-yard containers can be delivered the next business day; the 20- and 30-cubic-yard containers take two business days, because the City inspects the site first. Forms are processed on business days, and one sent after 3 p.m. may wait until the next day.
The minimum rental is two days, and the fee is billed for every day of the rental, weekends and holidays included.
Placement is settled before the order. Containers go on private property by default, on a firm, level surface, with written placement instructions supplied in advance. A container on the street needs a permit from the City’s Permit Center, emailed to the container office before delivery is finalised, and may not block an alley, a sidewalk, accessible parking, a fire lane or a parking strip. The small containers want a 10-by-10-foot ground area and 16 feet of overhead clearance; the large ones want 56 by 12 feet and 24 feet.
For a few bulky items, the City collects them by arrangement on the household’s collection day, called in through 311 in advance. The service does not extend beyond the City of Spokane municipal limits, as the City’s own order guide states, naming Spokane Valley and the broader county. The container office answers on 509-625-7956.
What the container will and will not take
The acceptable list covers general household garbage, roofing material, and construction, remodeling and demolition debris, plus two tires per load with the rims removed. Yard waste in the 3- and 6-cubic-yard containers is disposed of as garbage; in the larger containers it can follow the residential yard-waste rules.
The prohibited list changes a plan. Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and anything else that has held refrigerant may not go in. Neither may batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, computers, televisions and monitors, oil, solvents, pesticides or asbestos. The City’s form also states the air agency’s rule that a renovation or remodeling project needs an asbestos survey first, and that only bagged, asbestos-free blown-in insulation may be placed in a container. Where those materials go instead is the subject of the cleanup and disposal guide.
Weight and loading decide the rest of the price. Heavy material — brick, rock, drywall, metals, roofing and other dense loads — may go only into the 3- and 20-cubic-yard containers, and only half-filled; a 20-cubic-yard container holding dirt, gravel, sand or sod is limited to one third. A roll-off that leaves the yard over ten tons draws a $200 surcharge the first time and $500 each time after. In the small containers, nothing may be longer than four feet, and furniture has to be broken down. The safety chain goes on the roll-offs, nothing sits above the rim, and a driver who has to bring a container into compliance may charge for it.
Two service rules finish the picture: every container has to be emptied at least once every 30 days, and one dump or haul fee is charged for each 30-day period in which a container is not emptied. A container holding food or other putrescible waste has to be emptied weekly, and an empty can be requested before 4 a.m. for the same day.
The City’s published 2026 container rates
| Container, size and limit | Delivery | Daily rent | Hauling | Disposal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 cubic yards; 5,000 lb; 4 × 6 × 4.5 ft | $40.44 | $3.24 plus tax | not applicable | $138.51 per dump |
| 6 cubic yards; 5,000 lb; 5 × 6 × 5.5 ft | $40.44 | $3.24 plus tax | not applicable | $277.05 per dump |
| 20 cubic yards; 20,000 lb; 18 × 8 × 6 ft | $40.44 | $6.43 plus tax | $190.97 | $152.60 per ton at the City’s facility, or $135.63 per ton plus a $3 vehicle fee at the county transfer stations |
| 30 cubic yards; 20,000 lb; 20 × 8 × 7.5 ft | $40.44 | $6.43 plus tax | $190.97 | the same terms as the 20-cubic-yard container |
These are the City’s published 2026 figures, read on 7 October 2026 from its container form. The 30-cubic-yard container carries the same price as the 20-cubic-yard one and holds more, and moving a container after placement costs $40.44. The City states that its fees are subject to change, so confirm the current figures with the container office before ordering.
Outside the city limits, it is a comparison
City of Spokane Valley. Collection services here are made available under contracts between the City and its providers, and residential curbside collection is optional. Commercial service, including roll-off container service, comes from the City’s contracted firms rather than the City itself, and the solid waste management division answers coverage questions on 509-720-5000. Self-haul disposal runs through the transfer station the cleanup guide names.
Unincorporated Spokane County. A designated hauler serves each area, and the county states that the service provider informs the household of the collection day, the services and the cost. That company is the first place to ask about a container, and the county’s hotline or its hauler map identifies which company holds the area; both are set out in the cleanup and disposal guide.
Outside the City the container is a line in a quote, not a published rate; the field list below is how the offers are compared.
A field list for comparing container and haul-away offers
| Field | Your entry |
|---|---|
| Container size, interior dimensions and weight limit | |
| Where the container will stand, and who permits that ground | |
| Rental unit: per day or flat; minimum days; whether weekends and holidays are billed | |
| Delivery, collection, relocation and extra-day charges | |
| What disposal is included: per load or per ton; tonnage allowance; overweight penalty | |
| Materials the seller will not take | |
| Whether the figure is a quote or an estimate, and how long it holds | |
| Who answers for damage to the driveway, the curb or the container | |
| The disposal receipt or weight ticket you will receive |
Where this stops
Four loads leave by another route whatever container is ordered: refrigerant appliances, household chemicals, batteries and bulbs, and anything that may contain asbestos. The cleanup and disposal guide routes them.
A container is not a permission, and the City’s rule is not settled: an inside-city address asks the department before it hires.
Next step
One action: settle the jurisdiction before you take a price. Run the address through the jurisdiction guide. Inside the City of Spokane, call the container office on 509-625-7956 with the utility account number and the placement instructions ready. Outside it, collect three offers against the field list above.
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