Where to Get Rid of Things the Trash Company Won't Take

ACCEPTED: Automotive fluids, batteries, cooking oil, e-waste, fluorescent light fixtures and ballasts, household cleaners and solvents, lacquer/shellac/furniture polish, oil filters, paint, pesticides, pool chemicals, and printer cartridges.

NOT ACCEPTED: Ammunition or fireworks, commercial or medical waste, medicine, and trash.

Free At-Home Pickup for Unincorporated Bexar County

If you live in unincorporated Bexar County -- outside San Antonio city limits -- you likely will not qualify for the Culebra Road center above, since it requires a City of San Antonio CPS Energy bill. Bexar County runs a separate program instead: a free, scheduled door-to-door pickup for paint, batteries, motor oil, pesticides, cleaners, and similar household hazardous waste. The published exclusion list includes ammunition, biological waste, commercial chemicals, containers over five gallons, explosives, fire extinguishers, gas cylinders, radioactive material, and unknown or unlabeled items as unaccepted.

How to use it: Call (800) 449-7587 or visit WMAtYourDoor.com to schedule. A collection kit is mailed to you; you pack your materials into it and set it out on your scheduled date for pickup.

Residency: For qualified unincorporated residential addresses only.

Municipality note: Residents inside a Bexar County municipality other than San Antonio should check that city's program before using either option above. TCEQ's current list shows separate services or events for several municipalities, including Fair Oaks Ranch, Converse, Helotes, Hill Country Village, Live Oak, Schertz, Selma, and others. Eligibility follows the sponsoring jurisdiction and service address.

Monthly HHW Drop-Off Events

San Antonio holds monthly HHW drop-off events at the Bitters Bulky Waste Collection Center, 1800 Wurzbach Parkway. Events currently occur on the first Saturday of each month, generally from 8 a.m. to noon; during certain listed months, service occurs on the first Friday and the following Saturday. Verify the exact date and hours on the city's HHW page before traveling. The same city eligibility documentation is required.

E-waste

E-waste is accepted at the HHW facility. Check the current accepted-material list for the most up-to-date information on what electronics are accepted.

Texas has manufacturer recycling programs for covered computer equipment and televisions. If a local county or city site excludes the device, or the resident is not eligible, use TCEQ's manufacturer/program links to locate a no-cost or approved take-back option. Confirm whether peripherals, printers, loose batteries, CRTs, and broken screens are included.

Brush and Bulky Item Pickup

San Antonio schedules curbside brush and bulky collections twice per year. Residents should use the city's collection lookup for their dates. An out-of-cycle collection can be requested for a fee. Eligible customers may also use city brush or bulky drop-off centers subject to published limits ^[4][5]. The city currently lists up to six passenger-vehicle tires without rims and up to one cubic yard of construction material among the allowable quantities for eligible customers. Commercial waste is not accepted.

Medications and Sharps

San Antonio HHW rejects medicine and medical waste. See Unwanted Medication section and Sharps section.

Comal County

Comal County has a recycling center that accepts a range of materials, plus periodic household hazardous waste events in partnership with the City of New Braunfels.

Comal County Recycling Center

Address: 281 Resource Drive, New Braunfels, TX 78132

Hours: Monday-Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to noon. The brush area closes 15 minutes before the facility. Check the live county page for temporary closures and product availability.

Phone: (830) 643-3781

WHAT THE RECYCLING CENTER CURRENTLY LISTS AS ACCEPTED:

• Aluminum drinking cans; tin cans that are rinsed with labels removed; and metal of any kind.
• Chipboard, corrugated cardboard, and moving boxes. Materials must be clean; follow staff instructions for cardboard placement.
• Electronics, excluding televisions, computer monitors, lithium batteries, cellphones, and tablets.
• Appliances. Because the county page does not publish a refrigerant-preparation rule, call before transporting a refrigerator, freezer, or air-conditioning unit.
• Car and regular-pickup tires without rims: $2 each. The county states there is no quantity limit, but tires must be clean, uncut, and not blown out; it reserves the right to refuse tires.
• Brush: branches, tree limbs, shrubs, and bushes, subject to the published vehicle/load fees.

The county also makes good, clean cardboard moving boxes available to the public at no charge when available; check with the office.

Brush exclusion: The brush area does not accept leaves or yard clippings, green-waste bags, vines, briars, weeds, rocks, dirt, cactus, yucca, palms, food or other waste, mulch or bagged material, root balls, stumps, or building/construction material or lumber.

Mulch: Mulch availability changes. The county's live page reported no mulch inventory, so confirm availability before traveling. Fees apply: Pickups are $15, trailers 14 feet or smaller are $30, trailers over 14 feet are $45, and dump trucks or roll-off dumpsters are $150.

WHAT THE CENTER DOES NOT ACCEPT: Hazardous material; televisions; computer monitors; lithium batteries; cellphones; tablets; paint cans; aerosol cans; PVC pipe; tires with rims; trash; paper; plastics; wax-coated drink containers; dryer lint; ceramics; light bulbs; medical waste or syringes; Styrofoam; glass; catalytic converters; and mirrors. ^[6]

Comal County HHW Collection Events

NEXT VERIFIED HHW EVENT: October 17, 2026, 8 a.m. to noon, City Hall parking lot, 550 Landa Street, New Braunfels. It is open to City of New Braunfels and Comal County residents; bring a state-issued photo ID. No trailers or commercial waste. Materials must be labeled and in original containers. The last car in line at noon will be the last assisted. Enter from Laurel Lane; the line continues along Laurel Lane and turns left on Wood Road toward Clearfield Drive. ^[22]

Published limits: Paint: 10 gallons; automotive fluids: 5 gallons; oil filters: 2; household cleaners: 5 containers; pool chemicals: 10 gallons; standard household batteries (lead-acid): up to 5 pounds; lithium-ion batteries: 5 pounds; fluorescent bulbs: up to 5 tubes or bulbs; propane cylinders: 2, no more than 20 pounds each; aerosols: 5; pesticides/herbicides/fungicides: 5 gallons. Every liquid container must hold five gallons or less. The event excludes unknown or mixed material, damaged, swollen, or recalled lithium batteries, and mercury.

Medications and Sharps

The county recycling center rejects syringes/medical waste. See Sharps section.

Kendall County

Kendall County has the most limited public disposal options of the four counties. Kendall County operates solid-waste, recycling, and brush facilities. Household-hazardous-waste service is not countywide: eligible City of Boerne utility customers have WM At Your Door, and eligible Fair Oaks Ranch residents have the city's HHW Solutions pickup program.

Kendall County Solid Waste Convenience Station (Boerne)

KENDALL COUNTY SOLID WASTE, 46 Spanish Pass Road ^[8]

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Published residential fees include small trash bags $2, large bags $3, 50-96 gallon containers $10, an 8-by-10-foot carpet $15, larger carpet $25 and up, chairs $15, mattresses or box springs $15, sofas $25, and pickup loads $30 and up. The station also lists batteries $3; microwaves $7; dishwashers, washers, dryers, stoves, lawnmowers, grills, air conditioners without compressors, and miscellaneous metal at $10; and water heaters at $15. The county limits the station to household waste and rejects commercial or contractor waste. Its examples of rejected contractor/commercial material include building materials, shingles, wood/lumber, siding, fencing, paint cans, propane tanks, tires, concrete, soil, and rocks. Appliances or equipment containing refrigerant are not accepted. For any item not included in the county's published accepted list, call 830-537-4542 before transporting it.

Kendall County Solid Waste Convenience Station (Comfort Satellite)

KENDALL COUNTY SOLID WASTE, COMFORT SATELLITE: 28 FM 473, Comfort; second and fourth Saturday of each month, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 830-331-8251. Call before travel to confirm that the planned items and the Boerne-station fee schedule apply to this location. ^[8]

Kendall County Brush Site

KENDALL COUNTY BRUSH SITE, 202 Charger Boulevard, across from Champion High School ^[11]

Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Published residential fees are $5 for a small load and $10 for a large load; bags of leaves or grass are 50 cents each, and Christmas trees are $2. The site accepts trees and brush, plus leaves and grass clippings removed from bags. It does not accept stumps, root balls, or thorny material such as mesquite, cactus, or agave. Residential outgoing mulch is listed at no charge when available. Commercial incoming brush loads have a separate published fee schedule ranging from $20 to $200 according to load size. Call the site at 830-331-8156 before traveling. The site can close without notice because of weather, site conditions, or equipment maintenance.

Kendall County Recycling

KENDALL COUNTY RECYCLING, 44 Spanish Pass Road ^[12]

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Accepted materials include rinsed aluminum cans, clean foil pans and aluminum foil; clean steel/tin cans, with labels permitted to remain; and flattened cardboard with no dimension longer than three feet. The cardboard category includes moving, shipping, and packing boxes, cartons, cereal boxes, brown grocery bags, and paper feed sacks. Place individual recyclables in the appropriate bins and do not bag them. The county expressly rejects hazardous materials, plastics, glass, and paper such as newsprint, magazines, and packing paper. Do not bring other material unless staff confirms acceptance.

Boerne Utilities "At Your Door" Special Collection

Eligible City of Boerne utility customers can schedule WM At Your Door collection for listed household automotive products, cleaners, pool and garden chemicals, paint, electronics, compact fluorescent bulbs, and sharps. The program does not accept medicine, ammunition, explosives, asbestos, leaking containers, commercial material, or containers larger than five gallons. The service is provided at no additional charge to eligible Boerne Utilities customers. Schedule through Waste Management at 800-449-7587 or through the contact link on the City of Boerne program page. ^[9]

Kendall County HHW Collection Events

TCEQ's August 12, 2026 list shows ongoing household programs for eligible City of Boerne customers and City of Fair Oaks Ranch residents, but it does not list a current Kendall County-wide program or scheduled county event. Residents outside those programs should use a verified retailer, manufacturer take-back program, private service, or a specifically announced event.

Medications and Sharps

Boerne At Your Door accepts sharps but rejects medicine. See Sharps section.

Fair Oaks Ranch: City Service Overrides the County-Line Assumption

Fair Oaks Ranch spans Bexar, Comal, and Kendall counties, but the city provides residential solid-waste service citywide through Frontier Waste Solutions. For eligible city residents, HHW pickup is an appointment-based home service through HHW Solutions; eligibility is not assigned by which of the three counties contains the house.

Schedule HHW pickup online at hhwsolutions.com. The city says the contractor does not schedule by phone. After a pickup date is confirmed, place approved items on your property -- such as the front porch, front of the house, or driveway -- as instructed, before 8 a.m. Do not place HHW at the curb or in the public right-of-way; the city warns that doing so violates City Code. Collection occurs between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The city lists examples such as paints, household chemicals, pesticides/herbicides, automotive fluids, and batteries. Always check the contractor's current accepted and excluded lists before setting material out.

For bulk or brush service, call Frontier at 210-807-8555 before 5 p.m. on the Friday preceding the last full week of the scheduled month. Do not place material at the curb until Frontier confirms an appointment and assigns a pickup day. Bulk collection occurs monthly and is limited to 300 pounds. Brush collection occurs twice yearly and is limited to 20 cubic yards; it is for personally trimmed residential trees and shrubs, not third-party contractor debris. ^[10]

Homestead Infrastructure: Well and Septic Chemical Safety

Many rural and exurban Hill Country properties use a private well, an on-site septic system, or both, although others receive public water and sewer service. Properties with wells or septic systems require added care when handling chemicals.

WATER-TREATMENT PRODUCTS: Disposal rules depend on the product and the household's trash provider. Do not mix or pour leftover rust remover, chlorine products, acids, or other treatment chemicals onto the ground, into a storm drain, or into a septic system. Keep them in labeled containers and use a program that expressly accepts the product. Ask the regular hauler how it wants completely empty salt bags handled.

Much of the region overlies or drains toward karst aquifers, including the Edwards and Trinity systems. In karst limestone, water can enter through fractures, caves, sinkholes, and losing streams and may move rapidly through subsurface conduits, particularly in recharge areas and shallow, unconfined parts of an aquifer ^[24][25]. Vulnerability is not identical on every property, and travel time cannot be reduced to a universal 'within hours' claim ^[24][25]. The practical rule is the same everywhere: never pour fuel, solvent, pesticide, paint, or automotive fluid onto the ground, into a storm drain, or into a septic system.

Brush and Construction Debris: The Special Case

Brush, yard waste, and construction debris are the items that trip up the most people because they are not hazardous but they are too big or too messy for the regular trash can.

Brush and Yard Waste

Construction and Demolition Debris

Construction-debris rules are limited and facility-specific. Bandera County stations list limited do-it-yourself building material at $40 per cubic yard. San Antonio bulky drop-off centers list up to one cubic yard of construction material for eligible residential customers. Comal and Kendall county facilities do not provide a general construction-debris drop-off. Contractor-generated material, roofing loads, concrete, soil, and larger demolition jobs generally require an appropriately permitted landfill, transfer station, or roll-off service. Call the receiving facility and describe the material before loading.

Mesquite Creek Landfill, 1700 Kohlenberg Road, New Braunfels; currently published hours Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon. Call 830-625-7894 to verify that the specific material and vehicle are accepted and to obtain fees.

Propane Tanks: What to Do With That Leftover Tank

Propane-cylinder acceptance is program-specific. The October 17, 2026 Comal County/New Braunfels event expressly allows up to two cylinders of no more than 20 pounds each. Unincorporated Bexar County's WM At Your Door list rejects gas cylinders, and no current Bandera County HHW program is listed by TCEQ. Do not take a cylinder to an event unless that event's current list expressly allows it.

For a sound, standard grill cylinder, ask a propane exchange or dealer whether it is exchange-eligible. For a nonstandard, expired, damaged, or unwanted cylinder, contact a propane supplier or approved cylinder requalifier and describe its condition. Requalification intervals depend on the cylinder specification and approved test method, so do not assume that every cylinder receives the same five-year extension. Use PHMSA's requalifier search ^[20]. Never transport a leaking cylinder; move away from the area and contact emergency services or the fire department for immediate safety guidance.

Call Before Transporting Special Items

Fire extinguishers, ammunition/fireworks, asbestos-containing material, smoke detectors, mercury devices, swollen or recalled lithium batteries, gasoline, pool chemicals, refrigerant appliances, and leaking or unknown containers require item-specific handling. Do not infer acceptance from the words 'household hazardous waste'; check the exact program list. For an active leak, fire, reaction, strong fumes, or immediate exposure risk, move away and call 911.

Unwanted Medication

Use the DEA's year-round authorized-collector locator or a currently announced National Prescription Drug Take Back Day site. Participating pharmacies and law-enforcement locations change, so search by ZIP code immediately before travel. Kiosks generally take prescription and over-the-counter tablets, capsules, and patches; follow the individual location's instructions for liquids and packaging. They do not accept needles or other sharps. Do not put medicine into a household-chemical load unless that exact local program lists it as accepted. ^[17][18]

Used Needles and Other Sharps

Immediately place used sharps into an FDA-cleared sharps container. If one is unavailable, FDA guidance permits a heavy-duty plastic household container, such as a laundry-detergent bottle, when local rules allow it. The container should remain upright, leak-resistant, puncture-resistant, and fitted with a tight lid. Label and close it as directed; never place loose sharps in trash or recycling, and never force, bend, break, or recap a used needle. ^[16]

City of Boerne's WM At Your Door program lists sharps as accepted for eligible utility customers. Comal County's recycling center rejects syringes/medical waste, and San Antonio's HHW program rejects medical waste. Other residents should use a verified community drop box, health-care provider program, household pickup, or mail-back service and should call before travel. Never assume a pharmacy accepts sharps merely because it has a medication kiosk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I missed the HHW collection event in my county?

Your options depend on eligibility. San Antonio residents with a CPS Energy Environmental Fee can use the permanent facility at 7030 Culebra Road. Qualified unincorporated Bexar County residents can use WM At Your Door. Boerne utility customers have At Your Door. Fair Oaks Ranch residents can schedule through HHW Solutions. Comal County has the verified October 17, 2026 event. TCEQ's August 2026 list shows no current Bandera or Kendall countywide program.

Can I take Bexar County HHW items to the permanent drop-off even if I live in Kendall or Comal County?

No, not merely because the property is nearby or receives CPS Energy electricity. The 7030 Culebra facility requires a recent CPS Energy bill showing payment of San Antonio's Solid Waste Environmental Fee plus photo ID. Use the program tied to the service address: Boerne At Your Door, Fair Oaks Ranch HHW Solutions, the current Comal/New Braunfels event, or another specifically verified local/private option.

Is there a fee for the Comal County Recycling Center?

The county currently publishes fees for tires and brush: eligible car and regular-pickup tires are $2 each; brush is $15 for pickups, $30 for trailers 14 feet or shorter, $45 for longer trailers, and $150 for dump trucks or roll-off dumpsters. The page does not publish a general fee beside each recycling/appliance category, so call before bringing an unusual or refrigerant-containing appliance. Mulch is provided only when inventory is available; check the live alert before traveling.

What happens to the hazardous waste I drop off?

The receiving program sorts material for an appropriate outlet, which may include reuse, recycling, fuel recovery, treatment, or permitted disposal. The outcome depends on the material and the program's contractor. Contact the sponsoring city or county if you need the disposition method for a particular product.

Can I put latex paint in my regular trash?

If a latex-paint can contains less than about one-quarter can, TCEQ says it may be dried in a well-ventilated place for a few days; follow the hauler's rules before placing the fully solidified can in trash. For more paint, use an eligible HHW program or an approved hardener/disposal method. Keep oil-based paint for an HHW or other program that expressly accepts it. Never pour either type onto the ground, into a drain, or into a septic system. ^[15]

Where do I go for electronics in Kendall County?

Eligible City of Boerne utility customers can use WM At Your Door, and eligible Fair Oaks Ranch residents can use the city's HHW home-pickup program. Other residents should use the manufacturer's Texas take-back program or a private recycler that confirms the device. San Antonio's Culebra facility is not a general regional drop-off.

What about old tires?

Bandera County stations accept tires on or off the rim for posted fees. Comal's center lists car and regular-pickup tires for $2 each. Eligible San Antonio customers may take up to six passenger-vehicle tires without rims to a bulky drop-off center. Kendall's county solid-waste station does not accept tires. Retailer and private-facility policies vary, so call first.

Can my contractor or business use these programs?

Usually not. HHW and subsidized county/city sites generally limit service to residential household material and may reject contractor-generated or commercial loads even when the homeowner paid for the work. The contractor should identify the permitted commercial destination and include disposal in the job scope. Call the facility before transporting any business-generated material.