Rules

What Can and Cannot Go in a Dumpster: The Roseville List

The accepted list is long and boring. The prohibited list is short, strictly enforced, and the reason loads occasionally get turned away. Here is both.

The short version

If it came out of a building, a yard or a household and it is solid, non-hazardous and not on fire, it can almost certainly go in the container. If it is liquid, toxic, pressurised, or contains asbestos or refrigerant, it cannot. And in Michigan, yard waste is its own separate category by law.

That covers about ninety-five percent of questions. The rest of this article is the other five percent, which is where the money and the headaches live.

What you can put in

Household and furniture

Sofas, armchairs, beds, mattresses and box springs, tables, wardrobes, bookcases, desks, carpets, rugs, curtains, clothing, linens, toys, books, paperwork, kitchenware, patio furniture, grills with the propane tank removed, exercise equipment and general clutter. No mattress surcharge on our containers.

Construction and renovation debris

Drywall, plaster and lath, timber, plywood and sheet goods, doors, windows, trim, kitchen cabinets, countertops, tiling, laminate and vinyl flooring, insulation, siding, soffit and fascia, guttering, fencing and deck timber, and general non-hazardous building material.

Worth stating plainly: this is exactly what the curbside service cannot handle at volume. Its construction allowance is one small item a week under 60 lbs.

Basement strip-outs

Panelling, suspended ceiling tile and grid, carpet and underlay, framing, drywall and old built-in furniture. Very common here and mostly bulky rather than heavy — unless it has been wet.

Roofing

Asphalt shingle in both three-tab and architectural, metal panels, felt and synthetic underlayment, flashing, drip edge and roof decking. Weight is the constraint, not acceptability.

Heavy and inert material

Concrete, block, brick, pavers, stone, rubble and tile. All fine, all heavy — these belong in a 10 yard. See the concrete note below, because clean concrete has a cheaper route.

Scrap metal

Ductwork, conduit, steel studs, railings, fencing and appliances without refrigerant. Worth separating if there is enough of it.

What is prohibited

• Liquids of any kind — paint, stains, varnish, thinners, solvents, oils and fuels
• Asbestos-containing material — common in pre-1980 floor tile, mastic, pipe lagging and some plaster systems. Licensed abatement only
• Whole tyres — see below
• Batteries of any kind
• Propane, gas and pressurised cylinders, including "empty" ones
• Refrigerant-charged equipment that has not been professionally evacuated
• Pesticides, herbicides and fertiliser
• Medical waste and sharps — see below
• Hot ashes or anything smouldering
• Contaminated soil
• Yard waste destined for burial — state law, see below

Michigan bans yard waste from landfills

This is a genuine state-law rule rather than a preference, and it shapes how we handle any job with vegetation in it.

Practically that means clean brush and general debris are genuinely two different loads. Mix them and the whole container is handled as mixed waste, and the vegetation loses its route.

The city's own compost service is tightly specified and only runs part of the year. Collections run from the beginning of April to the beginning of December — material put out improperly, or outside compost season, will not be picked up at all. Containers must be Kraft paper bags or 32–35 gallon cans with a City COMPOST sticker, no heavier than 60 pounds. Bundles of brush must be under 2 inches in diameter, tied, no longer than 4 feet, under 18 inches across and under 60 lbs.

And sod, dirt and stones are not accepted as compost at all — those need a container.

The concrete exception

Worth knowing before you fill a container with slab.

The city lists two concrete-only drop-offs right here in Roseville: Clancy Concrete, 29950 Little Mack and Roseville Concrete, 29765 Groesbeck Highway. Clean broken concrete only — Clancy specifically excludes brick, patio stones and cinder blocks.

If you are taking out a driveway, patio or porch slab and can keep the material genuinely clean, that is a meaningfully cheaper route than mixing it into a general container.

The grey areas people ask about

Latex paint

Liquid paint is prohibited in our containers. The city's route is specific and worth following: dry it out completely with cat litter, oil-dry or sand, leave the lid off, and set it out with regular refuse once solid. Oil-based paint is hazardous wet or dry and goes to the county drop-off.

Tyres

Not in our containers. The city's guidance is to take them to a tire retailer and pay the disposal fee, or cut them in quarters for trash pickup.

Sharps and needles

Never loose in a container. Place in a heavy plastic container with the lid taped securely and drop at the DPS, 29411 Calahan, Monday to Friday 7:30 AM to 3:45 PM.

Wood in the recycling cart

A common mistake: wood is explicitly excluded from curbside recycling, along with styrofoam, wax-coated cardboard, propane tanks, paint cans and window glass. Scrap wood goes in the container.

Treated timber

Acceptable in a mixed load, not in a clean-wood container. Deck and fence timber is nearly always treated.

Where the rest has to go

A pre-load checklist

• Walk the pile and pull out anything liquid, pressurised or chemical
• Check the garage for propane cylinders, old fuel cans and paint
• Check any appliance with a compressor for refrigerant
• Pull out whole tyres
• If the house predates 1980 and you are disturbing floor tile, mastic or pipe lagging, stop and get it tested
• Keep clean brush separate — it is legally a different stream in Michigan
• Consider a concrete-only drop-off if you have a clean slab load
• Load flat and heavy first, bulky on top, and stop at the rail