Carts should be out by the street by 7:00am. The time your trash or recycling is picked up may vary from week to week. Trash is collected every week and recyclables are collected every other week. Trash and recycling carts are collected separately and may be serviced at different times of the day. Recycling carts put out on a non-recycling week will not be emptied.

Carts should be placed within two feet of the street, but not in the street. It should be placed on level ground. Leave four feet between the cart and other objects such as mailboxes, utility poles, and trees. Leave 10 feet between the carts and parked cars. The handles of the carts should face your house so that the lids open properly when being dumped. Carts cannot be collected if they are improperly placed. In the winter, you may need to shovel out areas for your carts just like you do for mail delivery.

Contact the City of Sun Prairie Public Works (608-837-3050) if you would like a different size. The City owns and manages their carts. 

Additional recyclables that don’t fit in the cart may be put in clear plastic bags and placed next to your recycling cart. Large quantities of cardboard should be flattened and placed in clear plastics bags. Oversized cardboard may need to be cut down.

If it is a small amount of extra trash you may want to consider waiting until the following week to have it picked up in your cart. If you have extra bags of trash, we will pick them up for a pre-paid fee. Please contact us to make arrangements at least one day before your pickup day.

Additional carts are available for an annual fee of $96.00 per cart. These will be provided by Pellitteri Waste Systems, not by the City of Sun Prairie. Please contact us directly to make arrangements.

Some items may be taken to the City of Sun Prairie Recycling Center, such as non-freon appliances. Please click here for the City's website with more information. For items that that cannot be taken to the Recycling Center, please make a list of the items you would like to discard, including the type of material they are made out of, then contact us. We will give you options, instructions, and schedule your pickup on the next available date. There is a fee for this service; we're always happy to recommend additional options if they are available.

Only household trash can be put in your cart. Do not place recyclables, yardwaste/brush, construction materials, electronics, or hazardous materials in your cart.

The automated collection program is not intended to provide this type of service. We do offer temporary dumpsters that come in 6, 12, 20 and 30 cubic yard sizes to meet your needs. We recommend contacting us prior to the start of your cleanout for a quote.

The automated cart dumping process lifts the container upside down and stops with a slight jolt. If the material is wedged tightly the material may not come out. Please put the heavier items in the bottom of the cart and do not compact the material.

If it is just a broken wheel, please contact us directly for repair. If the cart itself is damaged (cracked, broken lid, etc.) or missing altogether, please contact the City of Sun Prairie by calling (608) 837-3050.