What Can’t Go in a Dumpster in Tennessee

Published 2026-09-30 by Stones River Dumpsters

Why the list exists

Most of what comes out of a house or a job site goes straight into one of our containers: furniture, wood, drywall, roofing, carpet, brick, yard waste. Tennessee keeps a specific set of things out of landfills because they are hazardous, recyclable by law, or both, and the transfer station and landfill that take our loads will reject a container that has them in it. Here is what stays out and where it goes instead.

Tires, lead-acid batteries and used oil

Tennessee Code § 68-211-866 bars every Class I landfill from accepting whole waste tires, lead-acid batteries or used oil, and state rules add that no landfill may take whole tires at all (shredded is different) or bulk liquids. The Rutherford County Landfill on Landfill Road takes tires separately at a small per-tire charge, retailers take back lead-acid batteries for recycling, and used oil goes to a collection point, not a container.

Paint and lithium batteries

TDEC is blunt about paint: it is illegal to put wet latex paint in a Tennessee landfill. Dry it out with kitty litter or a hardener and the solid can go in the trash. Oil-based paint cannot go in the trash at all; in Rutherford County it goes to the Leanna Convenience Center at 4303 Sulphur Springs Road (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9:30 to 5, Saturday and Sunday 7:30 to 3). Lithium batteries must not go in the trash either, because of the fire risk; take them to a retailer or a collection event. Ordinary alkaline batteries are fine in the trash.

Fluorescent lamps and electronics

Fluorescent tubes and bulbs are universal waste under state rules and should not be broken up in a container; Leanna Convenience Center takes them. Electronics, TVs and computers are refused at the other thirteen county convenience centers but accepted at Leanna. Our junk-removal crew routes them there rather than into a landfill load.

Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners

Anything that still holds refrigerant needs the gas recovered by a certified technician under section 608 of the Clean Air Act before it is scrapped. The county convenience centers take refrigerators intact and ask you not to remove the Freon yourself. Our junk removal crew handles the recovery and disposal; a fridge does not go in a dumpster with the gas still in it.

Asbestos

Friable asbestos, the kind that crumbles by hand, is special waste under TDEC rules and never goes in a dumpster. Tennessee requires a notification to TDEC ten working days before any demolition, even where no asbestos is present, and before renovations that disturb more than 260 linear feet, 160 square feet or 35 cubic feet of suspect material, with an inspection by an accredited inspector first. Older houses around East Main Street can have asbestos in floor tile, siding, pipe insulation and plaster, so have suspect material tested before a gut renovation.

Household chemicals

Pesticides, pool chemicals, solvents, fuel, automotive fluids and similar hazardous waste go to a collection event, not a container. Rutherford County’s next household hazardous waste event is on 10 October 2026, 8 am to noon, at 4765 Florence Road; mobile events do not take paint, electronics or alkaline batteries, and business waste is not accepted.

Mattresses and concrete

Two local rules worth knowing. Since 1 August 2026 the Rutherford County Transfer Station no longer accepts mattresses in mixed loads; they are handled separately at the brush and tire scale with a $25 recycling fee, so tell us if a cleanout has several. The transfer station also refuses concrete slabs, drums and oversized items, so a load that is mostly concrete is routed to a facility that takes it. Neither is a problem, as long as we know before the truck leaves.

What the City of Murfreesboro will not collect either

If you were thinking of skipping the dumpster and using the City cart: Code § 14-14 says building debris such as scrap lumber, plaster, roofing, concrete, brick bats, paint cans, pipes and fixtures will not be removed by the City, and § 14-15 keeps appliances, air conditioners, batteries, oil, chemicals, tires and vehicle parts off the curb. Bulk pickup is by appointment at $10 an item for the first three, one pickup every 30 days, four items maximum. Everything else is what a roll-off is for.

What does go in

Household junk, furniture, carpet, wood, drywall, plaster, roofing shingles, brick, tile, siding, windows, yard waste, cabinets and fixtures. Which is nearly everything. Call (615) 956-2374 if you are unsure about a specific item and we will tell you before you load it.

Stones River Dumpsters · 831 Park Ave, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 · (615) 956-2374, answered 24/7.