Tennessee keeps whole tires, lead-acid batteries and used oil out of landfills by law, wet paint cannot go to a landfill, lithium batteries must not go in the trash, fluorescent lamps are universal waste, refrigerant appliances need the gas recovered first, and friable asbestos is special waste. The county transfer station also refuses concrete slabs and, since August 2026, mattresses in mixed loads. Our
guide lists where each item goes.