Recycling in Kentucky
Where to recycle, donate or get rid of things in 25 cities and towns across Kentucky. Pick your city, or search for your item. We also pick up anywhere in the state.
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Boone County
Boyd County
Boyle County
Calloway County
Campbell County
Christian County
Clark County
Daviess County
Fayette County
Franklin County
Hardin County
Henderson County
Hopkins County
Jefferson County
Jessamine County
Kenton County
Madison County
McCracken County
Scott County
Warren County
Kentucky rules
- Kentucky imposes a $2 fee on each new motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer tire sold at retail, from July 1, 2020 until July 1, 2034; the fee is subject to sales tax. Source: KRS 224.50-868: New tire fee; disposal of replaced tire; retailer requirements (opens in new tab)
- A tire retailer may pass the $2 new tire fee on to the buyer. Source: KRS 224.50-868: New tire fee; disposal of replaced tire; retailer requirements (opens in new tab)
- Department of Revenue: the $2 tire fee applies to each new tire sold at retail in Kentucky for motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers. Source: Kentucky Department of Revenue: Motor Vehicle Tire Fee (opens in new tab)
More Kentucky rules (41)
- Recapped tires, used tires, tires for off-highway vehicles and tires on a vehicle before its original sale are exempt from the fee. Source: Kentucky Department of Revenue: Motor Vehicle Tire Fee (opens in new tab)
- The fee goes to the Waste Tire Trust Fund, which pays for managing scrap tires and developing markets for recycled tire products. Source: Kentucky Department of Revenue: Motor Vehicle Tire Fee (opens in new tab)
- A tire retailer must accept, if offered, one waste tire of similar size and type for each new motor vehicle tire it sells. Source: KRS 224.50-868: New tire fee; disposal of replaced tire; retailer requirements (opens in new tab)
- When a new tire replaces an old one, the retailer must encourage the buyer to leave the old tire with the retailer, or else dispose of it legally, give it to a registered waste tire handler, or reuse it. Source: KRS 224.50-868: New tire fee; disposal of replaced tire; retailer requirements (opens in new tab)
- Waste tires may be disposed of in Kentucky only by transfer to a permitted solid waste disposal facility, under processing conditions set in law. Source: KRS 224.50-856: Disposal of waste tires (opens in new tab)
- Nobody may keep more than 100 waste tires at a time without meeting waste tire program requirements, unless exempt. Source: KRS 224.50-856: Disposal of waste tires (opens in new tab)
- Hauling more than 50 waste tires at a time requires meeting waste tire program requirements. Source: KRS 224.50-856: Disposal of waste tires (opens in new tab)
- Kentucky requires tire retailers, transporters and accumulators to register with the state and post a bond. Source: Kentucky DWM: Waste Tires (opens in new tab)
- DWM offers each county that applies a $4,000 grant each year to dispose of waste tires properly, separate from the state collection events. Source: Kentucky DWM: Waste Tires (opens in new tab)
- Lead-acid batteries may not be put in mixed solid waste or accepted for landfill or incinerator disposal in Kentucky. Source: KRS 224.50-410: Disposal of lead acid batteries (opens in new tab)
- Proper disposal of a lead-acid battery means taking it to a retailer or wholesaler of new lead-acid batteries, a permitted secondary lead smelter, a lead recycler, or a collection center that sends to one. Source: KRS 224.50-410: Disposal of lead acid batteries (opens in new tab)
- DEP tells households to dispose of car (lead-acid) batteries by taking them to the wholesaler or retailer when buying a new battery. Source: Kentucky DEP fact sheet: Household Batteries (2017) (opens in new tab)
- A 2017 DEP fact sheet says households are exempt from the federal Universal Waste Rule and may put dry-cell batteries in their garbage. Source: Kentucky DEP fact sheet: Household Batteries (2017) (opens in new tab)
- Starting June 30, 2027, nobody may put a covered battery (portable or medium-format, up to 25 pounds) in a curbside, front-load or roll-off container used for trash or recycling. Source: KRS 224.50-420: Covered battery definitions; prohibition on placing covered batteries in solid waste or recycling containers (opens in new tab)
- A portable battery is a single-use battery of up to 4.4 pounds, or a rechargeable battery of up to 11 pounds and 300 watt-hours; vehicle batteries are excluded. Source: KRS 224.50-420: Covered battery definitions; prohibition on placing covered batteries in solid waste or recycling containers (opens in new tab)
- The cabinet must set up a Covered Battery Stewardship Program by March 31, 2027, overseeing a voluntary take-back program for rechargeable batteries and publishing a list of collection sites. Source: KRS 224.50-422: Covered Battery Stewardship Program (opens in new tab)
- Once the program exists, the cabinet must publish a list of covered battery collection sites on its website. Source: KRS 224.50-422: Covered Battery Stewardship Program (opens in new tab)
- Battery stewardship plans must be funded by members without adding a point-of-sale cost or fee for consumers. Source: KRS 224.50-422: Covered Battery Stewardship Program (opens in new tab)
- Household electronic waste is not regulated or banned from landfill disposal in Kentucky. Source: Kentucky DWM: E-scrap Laws (opens in new tab)
- Households may legally put home computers and monitors in their garbage, if their garbage collector and landfill will accept them. Source: Kentucky DWM: E-scrap Laws (opens in new tab)
- The Division of Waste Management strongly encourages recycling electronic equipment. Source: Kentucky DWM: E-scrap Laws (opens in new tab)
- DWM tells the public to contact their local Solid Waste Coordinator for help with e-scrap. Source: Kentucky DWM: Electronics Recycling (opens in new tab)
- DWM notes that older cathode-ray-tube computer monitors and televisions contain leaded glass. Source: Kentucky DWM: Electronics Recycling (opens in new tab)
- The state e-scrap contract with Powerhouse Recycling covers state government and political subdivisions, not households. Source: Kentucky DWM: Electronics Recycling (opens in new tab)
- DWM suggests choosing e-scrap recyclers with R2 or e-Stewards certification. Source: Kentucky DWM: Electronics Recycling (opens in new tab)
- Every Kentucky county must provide a universal collection program for municipal solid waste: door-to-door collection, direct haul to staffed convenience centers or transfer facilities, or another approved option. Source: KRS 224.43-315: County universal municipal solid waste collection program (opens in new tab)
- Counties may let residents haul their own waste to cabinet-approved staffed convenience centers or transfer facilities in the county. Source: KRS 224.43-315: County universal municipal solid waste collection program (opens in new tab)
- State law funds recycling and household hazardous waste grants from the Kentucky Pride Fund; counties, cities and other local governments may apply. Source: KRS 224.43-505: Kentucky Pride Fund; recycling and household hazardous waste grants (opens in new tab)
- The state household hazardous waste grant pays for counties to hold annual drop-off events for household chemicals, old electronics and other hazardous waste. Source: Kentucky EEC press release (May 14, 2026): $6 million for recycling and household hazardous waste (opens in new tab)
- The cabinet provides technical assistance to local governments that set up household hazardous waste education or collection programs. Source: KRS 224.10-610: Assistance to household hazardous waste educational and collection programs (opens in new tab)
- State-grant-funded HHW collections may not pay for collecting water-based paint, automotive batteries or used motor oil. Source: Kentucky DWM: Household Hazardous Waste Grant Management Handbook (opens in new tab)
- Water-based (latex and acrylic) paint is not accepted at grant-funded HHW collections. Source: Kentucky DWM: Household Hazardous Waste Grant Management Handbook (opens in new tab)
- The fourth week in March is Commonwealth Cleanup Week, a volunteer cleanup week set by the 1998 General Assembly. Source: Kentucky DWM: Commonwealth Cleanup Week (opens in new tab)
- A state fact sheet says to harden small amounts of latex or water-based paint with a thickener such as cat litter, let it dry, and set the open can out for garbage pickup. Source: Kentucky fact sheet: Paint disposal (2017) (opens in new tab)
- Oil-based paint should not be left to evaporate; the fact sheet says to ask the local solid waste coordinator how to handle it. Source: Kentucky fact sheet: Paint disposal (2017) (opens in new tab)
- For local paint disposal options, the state tells residents to contact their county solid waste coordinator. Source: Kentucky fact sheet: Paint disposal (2017) (opens in new tab)
- PaintCare runs paint recycling programs only in states with paint stewardship laws; Kentucky is not on its list of states. Source: PaintCare: Paint recycling (state list) (opens in new tab)
- The Mattress Recycling Council runs statewide mattress recycling only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island; Kentucky has no state mattress program. Source: Mattress Recycling Council (opens in new tab)
- The state storm debris fact sheet lists refrigerators, stoves, water heaters, air conditioners and washers/dryers as white goods and says Freon must be recovered before crushing or recycling. Source: Kentucky DWM fact sheet: Storm Debris (opens in new tab)
- The state storm debris fact sheet counts washers and dryers as white goods; after storms, damaged appliances can be hauled to a recycling center or county staging area. Source: Kentucky DWM fact sheet: Storm Debris (opens in new tab)
- After storms, damaged appliances can be picked up by a hauler and taken to a recycling center or county staging area. Source: Kentucky DWM fact sheet: Storm Debris (opens in new tab)