How to Check Garbage Truck Schedule? A Simple Guide – Taipei City

(FWA 2026/5/22)For expats living in Taiwan, knowing the garbage truck schedule is essential for daily life. This comprehensive guide covers everything from basic rules to website tutorials, oversized garbage disposal, and designated drop-off points.

I. General Rules & Garbage Disposal Principles

• Designated Garbage Bags: You must use Taipei City designated garbage bags for general household waste. Please sort your recyclables correctly.

• Strict Fines: To maintain city cleanliness, failure to properly sort trash, illegal dumping, throwing household waste into public pedestrian bins, or littering cigarette butts will result in a heavy fine starting from NT$3,600.

• New Food Waste Policy (Effective Jan 1, 2026): Household food waste is no longer divided into pig feed (red bucket) and compost (blue bucket). Please drain the liquid from both raw and cooked food waste, and pour it all into the “blue food waste bucket” at the back of the garbage truck. All of it will be processed for compost.

• Collection Schedule: Trash and recyclables are collected five days a week in Taipei. There is no collection on Wednesdays and Sundays.

II. Simple Guide for Trash Collection Route Website

• Go to the Taipei City “Trash Collection Route Query” website.

• A notification will appear: "www.dep-trash-can.gov.taipei wants to know your location. Block / Allow this time / Allow"

• Select Allow this time or Allow.

• Click “Show nearby spots on the map”.

• Spots where you can dispose of trash will be displayed on the map with red markers.

• Click on a red marker to show the address and the garbage truck arrival time.

III. Recycling Categories and Schedule

● Flat Recyclables (Mondays & Fridays)

Please flatten paper items. If you have over 200 old books, you must schedule a pick-up with your local cleaning squad in advance.

• Recyclable: Clean old clothes (including clean female underwear with intact elasticity), clean plastic bags (no oil, soup, or blood stains), waste paper, and old books (paper boxes, cardboard boxes, paper bags, recycled paper).

• ❌ Non-Recyclable (Throw in General Waste): Fabrics (carpets, towels, blankets, pillows, bed sheets, underwear, shoes, socks, curtains, dirty/smelly old clothes), glossy coated paper, carbon paper, sticker backing paper, toilet paper, diapers, oily plastic bags, and composite material plastic bags (e.g., snack/chip wrappers).

● 3D Recyclables (Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays)

• Recyclable: All kinds of bottles and containers, paper containers (paper lunch boxes, paper cups, milk cartons, aluminum foil packaging), small home appliances and 3C products (phones, hair dryers, lamps, monitors, keyboards, etc.), waste plastic, scrap metal, old tires, clean styrofoam (tableware, buffer packaging, fruit nets).

• ❌ Non-Recyclable (Throw in General Waste): Plush toys, floor mats, sponges/foam, shoes, packing straps, whiteboards, balls, flower pots, wooden lunch boxes, bicycle inner tubes, and motorcycle seats.

●  Other Recyclables (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays)

Hazardous items must be packaged separately and handed directly to the cleaning staff.

• Recyclable: Light bulbs, light tubes, dry batteries, power banks, mercury thermometers, environmental pesticide containers, lubricating oil, cooking oil, CDs, up to 2 old suitcases, old helmets, old umbrellas, trophies, and long-handled cleaning tools.

● Food Waste (Daily in the Blue Bucket)

• Food Waste: Fruit peels, shells, bones, meat, leftovers, and expired food. (Please drain the water before dumping).

• ❌ Special Handling (Do NOT put in the food waste bucket): Coconut shells and durian shells must be collected separately and handed to the recycling truck. Toilet paper goes into general waste.

IV. Oversized Furniture and Appliances (Scheduled Collection)

Oversized items cannot be thrown directly into garbage trucks. You must call your local district cleaning squad to schedule a pick-up at least one day in advance.

• Applicable Items: Range hoods, spring mattresses, bed frames, handcarts, bicycles, electric fans, gas stoves, large water dispensers, sofas, tables, chairs, cabinets, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and 3 or more suitcases.

• Disposal Method: Call the district numbers below or use the “Taipei City Petition System” online. Place the items at the agreed-upon location at the scheduled time (usually after 9:00 PM). Do not mix in unscheduled items.

📞 District Cleaning Squad Contact Numbers:

• Songshan District: 2514-7712, 2514-7713

• Xinyi District: 2723-4982, 2723-4990

• Daan District: 2737-1303, 2736-4342

• Zhongshan District: 2503-3447, 2502-2264

• Zhongzheng District: 2332-0726, 2332-0725

• Datong District: 2594-9904, 2594-8437

• Wanhua District: 2302-2988, 2306-9144

• Wenshan District: 2936-3050, 2936-3051

• Nangang District: 2783-4725, 2783-2691

• Neihu District: 2791-7730, 2794-5759

• Shilin District: 2883-0962, 2883-0963

• Beitou District: 2822-9849, 2822-9604

• Resource Recycling Squad: 2791-9622, 2791-9532

V. Designated Trash & Recycling Drop-off Points

For expats whose schedules do not align with the regular garbage truck times, Taipei City has 30 designated drop-off points.

⚠️ Note: You must still use the Taipei City designated garbage bag for general waste. Anyone caught dumping illegally or not sorting properly will be fined.

Please note that designated drop-off points are not open 24 hours a day. Searching for these addresses on Google Maps may yield inaccurate information or photos, as the addresses provided in this article—such as cleaning squad offices and garbage truck parking lots—are for reference only. Upon arrival, please look out for the official Department of Environmental Protection trash bins, recycling sorting bins, and food waste buckets (the actual locations are often under bridges, inside parking lots, or near parks). Additionally, ensure that you only dispose of your garbage during the permitted collection hours. If you are unsure, do not dump your trash arbitrarily to avoid fines for violating regulations.

1. Regular Designated Drop-off Points

2. Wednesday / Sunday ONLY Drop-off Points