🇮🇹 Never miss bin day again

Your municipality's separate waste collection calendar

Receive a reminder the evening before and put out food waste, paper, plastic, glass and residual waste without repeatedly checking your municipality's calendar.

In Italy, waste collection is organised by the municipality, often through a concession operator such as AMA in Rome, AMSA in Milan or Alia in Florence. Each area has its own collection calendar on the municipality's or operator's website, with days and times varying between neighbourhoods. You pay for the service through TARI, the waste tax based on the size of your home and the number of people in your household.

Door-to-door separate collection generally has five streams: food or organic waste in a small brown bin with a compostable bag, collected several times a week; paper and cardboard in a blue or white container or tied in bundles; plastic and tins in a yellow sack or bin; glass in a green container or street bottle bank; and indifferenziato or secco residuo (residual waste) in a grey or black container, often collected less frequently. Exact frequencies vary by municipality.

Times and rules for putting out small bins vary by municipality and area, so always follow the calendar for your address. Bulky waste, garden cuttings, used oil and WEEE can be taken to an isola ecologica, also called a centro di raccolta, usually with a card or booking. Some operators also offer free bulky-waste collection from your home by appointment.

• Follow the time and placement rules in the calendar for your address; they vary by municipality and area.
• Download the collection calendar from the municipality's or operator's website, such as AMA, AMSA or Alia. Days vary between neighbourhoods and often even between streets.
• The calendar nearly always changes around holidays such as Christmas and Ferragosto, so check the operator's notices before putting waste out.
• Keep your customer code or isola ecologica card handy. Registration is often required to take bulky waste to the recycling centre or book a home collection.

Who collects waste in my municipality?

The municipality organises the service and awards it to a concession operator, such as AMA in Rome, AMSA in Milan or Alia in Florence. The collection calendar for your area is on the municipality's or operator's website and can often be found by entering your address.

When should I put out the small bins?

Follow the time and placement rules in the calendar for your address; they vary by municipality and area.

Where should I take old furniture or broken appliances?

Take them to your municipality's isola ecologica or centro di raccolta, with identification and often your TARI customer code. Many operators also offer free booked collection of bulky waste from your home by telephone or online. Never leave it beside the bins.

What changes with pay-as-you-throw collection or a sack fitted with a transponder?

Some municipalities use bins with microchips or personalised sacks to measure residual-waste deposits and apply a variable TARI charge: the more correctly you separate, the less you pay. The municipal calendar's placement rules still apply.

Everything you need for bin day