“Can I just take a fridge to the dump?” Not the way you take a couch. Much of what a junk hauler carries is ordinary waste, priced by the yard and dumped by the ton. Four kinds of item are different, because a law follows them to the landfill: appliances that hold refrigerant, electronics, mattresses and tires. A fifth kind, household hazardous waste, is the load you are usually better off refusing.
Here is what each rule says, who it falls on, and the habits that keep a truckload legal. Some of these rules are federal and the same everywhere; most are state rules, so the state examples below are a starting point, not the list for your state.
Refrigerators, freezers and window units: the federal refrigerant rule
The Clean Air Act rules in 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F cover what EPA calls a small appliance: anything fully manufactured, charged and hermetically sealed in a factory with five pounds of refrigerant or less. The definition names refrigerators and freezers, room air conditioners (window, portable and packaged terminal units), dehumidifiers, under-the-counter ice makers, vending machines and drinking water coolers (§82.152).
Three parts of the rule matter on a pickup:
- No venting. No person disposing of an appliance may knowingly vent or otherwise release its refrigerant (§82.154(a)(1)). The same section exempts some refrigerants in some uses, among them isobutane (R-600a) and propane (R-290) in household refrigerators. The exemption covers only the refrigerants and uses it lists, so read the unit’s label; the scrap yard or landfill may also set its own terms for what it accepts.
- The last stop checks. The “final processor,” meaning whoever takes the final step in disposal, such as a scrap recycler or a landfill operator, must either recover any remaining refrigerant itself or verify, with a signed statement or a contract, that it was recovered (§82.155(b)). A signed statement must include the name and address of the person who recovered the refrigerant and the date. The final processor must tell suppliers about this rule, by signs, letters or similar means, and keep the statements for three years.
- Recovery has a standard. Whoever recovers the refrigerant from a small appliance for disposal must use recovery equipment certified under §82.158, and recover 80 or 90 percent of it depending on the equipment’s age and whether the compressor works, or pull the appliance down to four inches of mercury vacuum (§82.155(a) and §82.156(b)).
EPA’s appliance disposal page answers the question haulers ask next: people recovering refrigerant from small appliances in the waste stream do not have to be Section 608 certified, and the technician certification rule says the same (§82.161(a)(1)(vii)). They still need the certified equipment and the recovery levels above.
Two warnings. If a unit has already lost its refrigerant, the final processor needs a signed statement that it leaked out before delivery, and “leaked out” does not cover negligence or deliberate acts such as cutting refrigerant lines (§82.155(b)). And it is a violation to accept a statement the receiver knew or had reason to know was false. Never cut a line to make a fridge “empty”, and never sign a statement for recovery you did not see done.
EPA’s page also notes that hazardous components in appliances, including PCBs, mercury and compressor oil, must be removed before disposal under 40 CFR Parts 273, 279 and 761, and that the treatment of insulating foam is not regulated. EPA’s Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) program, launched in 2006, was a voluntary partnership for going further, recovering the foam’s blowing agent as well; its partners were utilities, retailers, manufacturers and government agencies.
So a hauler has three workable paths for each cooling appliance: take it to a facility that recovers refrigerant itself (EPA notes that landfills typically set refrigerated appliances aside until a technician recovers it), have it recovered with certified equipment and carry the signed statement, or work with a technician who does the recovery for you. Each path has a cost, and that cost belongs in your appliance surcharge.
Electronics: a state rule, and sometimes a landfill ban
There is no single federal disposal rule for a TV. The Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse counts 25 states plus the District of Columbia with e-waste laws, from California in 2003 to Utah in 2011 and the District in 2014.
The part that changes a hauler’s day is a disposal ban. The Clearinghouse’s landfill ban map lists 15 states and the District of Columbia that ban some electronics from disposal: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin. The lists differ a lot. Minnesota’s entry names CRT monitors and CRT TVs, with mercury-containing devices also banned; California’s names cell phones, CRT and flat-panel monitors and TVs, desktops, laptops, printers, tablets, telephones and VCRs. In those states, a TV in the load goes to an electronics recycler, not into the landfill with the couch.
Watch for batteries inside the junk. EPA says lithium-ion batteries and devices containing them should not go in household garbage or recycling bins, that a battery damaged or crushed in transport or processing can create a fire hazard, and that taping the terminals or bagging batteries separately helps prevent fires. They go to battery or electronics recyclers or a household hazardous waste collection point. Pull them out of the load before it goes in the compactor or onto the tipping floor.
Mattresses: four state programs
The Mattress Recycling Council runs programs in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. Its FAQ says each state program is funded by a recycling fee, or stewardship assessment, collected in that state, and that the program is available to consumers, individuals and businesses, based in those four states. In California the fee rose from $16.00 to $18.00 per unit sold on or after April 1, 2026, and every seller to end users must collect it, from stores to online sellers.
For a hauler, the program means collection sites that may take your mattresses instead of a landfill that charges for them. Ask each site before you bring a truckload: whether it accepts units from a hauler, how many, and in what condition. The FAQ says that in Connecticut and Rhode Island, mattresses that are severely damaged, heavily soiled, moldy, very wet or frozen, or infested with bed bugs should be raised with the drop-off location first, and that fees may apply. Outside the four states, the program’s website points to a list of mattress recyclers around the country.
Tires: the hauler may need a registration
Tires can bring paperwork of the hauler’s own. Two examples:
Other states have their own versions. Before you add tires to your item list, look up your state environmental agency’s tire page, and price the registration, the manifests and the facility’s per-tire fee into your tire surcharge.
Household hazardous waste: the load to refuse
EPA describes household hazardous waste as leftover household products that can catch fire, react or explode, or that are corrosive or toxic, naming paints, cleaners, oils, batteries and pesticides as examples. Federal law excludes waste generated by normal household activities from the definition of hazardous waste (40 CFR §261.4), but EPA notes that household hazardous waste is still regulated as solid waste at the state and local level, and that state requirements may be stricter than the federal program.
In practice, the landfill or transfer station decides what it will take from you, and a leaking can of solvent in a mixed load is your problem, not the homeowner’s. The simplest policy is a written list of what you will not haul: liquid paint and solvents, pesticides, motor oil, pool and cleaning chemicals, and loose batteries. Put it on your website and your quote, and point customers to their community’s collection program; EPA says many communities run permanent sites or collection days.
A checklist for the truck
Every one of these is a cost per item, which is why it belongs in the price, not in the margin. Pricing junk removal by the truckload shows how to build those surcharges, and the junk removal page covers the rest of the trade.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.