Who picks up old appliances in Pittsburgh?

The short answer

Who picks up your old appliance depends on what it is and where you live. The City of Pittsburgh's curb takes stoves, washers, dryers and water heaters, two items a week, but refuses anything with freon. Suburban haulers follow their own contracts. Retailers may haul away an old unit with a new delivery. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Swissvale accepts working appliances. Scrap yards take dead ones. JunkRabbit takes all of them at flat prices, such as $133 for a washer and $164 for a standard fridge.

1. The City of Pittsburgh

If you live inside the City limits, your regular trash crew is the first stop. The City's bulk program accepts stoves, washers, dryers and hot water tanks, set out with your regularly scheduled refuse pick-up. The limit is two bulk items per week, out no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before and no later than 6 a.m. on collection day. The City will not take freon appliances, so a refrigerator, freezer, air conditioner or dehumidifier stays put. For more than two items, the City runs a paid collection at $173 for the first hour and $54 for each additional hour, arranged by phone and paid by check or money order. The free program is excellent for one washer on a flat block. It does nothing about getting the appliance out of a basement, and it does not help with the freezer next to it. Remember that crews collect from the curb, not from inside the house.

2. Your borough or township's hauler

Outside the City, it depends entirely on your municipality. Allegheny County has 130 municipalities, and each one contracts its own trash hauler. Many of them have Pittsburgh mailing addresses, which causes plenty of confusion. Mt. Lebanon's rules are a useful example. Its contractor since January 2024, County Hauling, accepts furniture, appliances and household goods curbside, set out after 6 p.m. the evening before. Freon appliances are accepted only with a sticker certifying that the refrigerant has been removed, which means you need a technician to recover it first. Special collections are a private arrangement with the contractor, at the contractor's price. In other places, from the North Hills to the Mon Valley, the rules may be more or less generous. Your municipal website or office is the authority, and it is worth a call before you haul anything to the curb.

3. The store delivering your new one

When you buy a new appliance, ask the retailer whether it will haul away the old one at delivery. Many do, sometimes for a fee, sometimes included. It is the most convenient route when it fits, because the old unit leaves as the new one arrives. The fine print matters, though. Haul-away is usually limited to the same kind of appliance being replaced, already disconnected, and sometimes only from the same room. It typically will not cover the old basement fridge, the chest freezer from 1990 or the dehumidifier that died last spring. Delivery crews may also decline a unit that has not been disconnected or that sits behind a tight basement turn. Confirm what is included before the delivery day, so you are not left with the old washer in the driveway. Anything left over can go in one separate pickup.

4. Reuse and scrap

A working appliance can go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore at the Swissvale Shopping Center, which lists appliances among accepted donations and offers free donation pickup. They check age, condition and whether it works, so send details first and expect to wait for a pickup slot. Dead appliances are mostly steel, and scrap metal yards accept them; the Allegheny County Health Department publishes a recycling resource directory and drop-off finder that lists them. Scrap yards set their own rules, especially for anything that may still hold refrigerant, and you need a way to get the appliance there. Some people put a free listing online and wait for a scrapper to collect it. That works sometimes, but scrappers usually want ground-floor, easy pickups, not a washer at the bottom of a narrow cellar stair in a rowhouse.

5. A flat-price pickup

This is the option that takes everything in one trip, freon units included, carried from wherever they sit. A fridge and washer the City would split two ways are $164 + $133 = $297 together. A basement with a chest freezer, a dehumidifier and a dryer is $146 + $77 + $128 = $351.

How to choose

Match the appliance to the route. A single stove, washer or dryer in a City home with an easy path to the curb: use the free bulk pickup. A like-for-like replacement: ask the retailer. A newer working unit with no rush: offer it to the ReStore. A suburb with a generous contract: follow your borough's rules. A fridge, freezer, window AC or dehumidifier with no sticker, or several appliances at once, or anything in a basement you do not want to carry: book a pickup. JunkRabbit shows the flat price before you book, carries from any floor with no stairs fee, and runs 7 days a week from 8am to midnight. Same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM, and you choose a 2-hour arrival window. The price is the same in the City and every suburb we serve.

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