Bulky Trash Not Picked Up in Prince George’s County? What to Check Next

October 14, 2026

An illustrated Prince George’s County street of two-story homes. A couch and a chair sit at the curb next to a green trash cart, with a question-mark tag above them.

Short answer: if the county collects your trash and your bulky items are still at the curb, first make sure the day is really over. Crews collect from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The county lets you report a missed collection to PGC311 starting at noon on your collection day, and that’s the time to report if you watched the truck skip your house. Otherwise, we suggest waiting: a September 2024 county notice says that if items aren’t picked up by 8 p.m., report it the next business day.

Before you report, take two minutes to check that nothing else kept your items at the curb: a holiday or weather delay, a different collector, more than four items, an item that needs an appointment, or a mattress without a plastic cover. A report won’t fix those. Each one has a different next step, and this guide walks you through it.

Last checked October 14, 2026, against Prince George’s County’s official pages (sources at the bottom). Kalm Kode is an independent guide, not a county service. We can’t file a report for you or guarantee that anything gets collected. When in doubt, PGC311 has the final word.

What should I do now?

What should I do now? 1, saw the truck skip you? Report after noon; if not, wait until 8 p.m. 2, holiday or bad weather? Pickup may have moved. 3, does the county collect your trash? If not, call your collector. 4, four items or fewer? Extras wait a week. 5, needed an appointment? Appliances, tires, scrap metal. 6, prepared? Covered mattress, rolled carpet. 7, right spot, right time? Next to your cart by 5 a.m. All clear? Report it to PGC311. Items out after 8 p.m.? Report the next business day.
Run these seven checks before you report.

Run through these in order. Most people can answer them in a couple of minutes.

  1. Did you see the truck skip you, or is it after 8 p.m.? If the truck passed and skipped your house, you can report after noon. Otherwise, wait: crews have until 8 p.m. If items are still out after that, report the next business day.
  2. Is it a holiday week, or was there bad weather? Your pickup may have moved to a later day.
  3. Does the county actually collect your trash? Cities, apartment complexes, HOAs and private haulers have their own rules.
  4. Was it four bulky items or fewer? Only four are collected each week.
  5. Did any item need an appointment or another route? Appliances, car tires and scrap metal need a PGC311 appointment. Flat-screen TVs and computers aren’t collected at the curb.
  6. Was everything prepared? Mattresses and box springs need a full plastic cover. Carpet needs to be rolled and tied.
  7. Was it next to your trash cart, at your own curb, by 5 a.m.?

If everything checks out, it’s a missed collection. Skip to Step 4 and report it. If something doesn’t check out, the matching section below tells you what to do instead.

Step 1: Make sure it was actually missed

The county’s residential trash page says crews collect between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. That’s a long window, and a quiet curb at 10 a.m. doesn’t mean you were skipped.

Don’t assume your bulky items were missed just because your trash cart was emptied. The county’s pages don’t say whether bulky items always ride on the same truck as your trash. The county does say trash and recycling come on separate trucks. Give it until 8 p.m. before deciding it was missed.

When can you report it?

The county’s pages give three timing instructions:

  • From noon on your collection day. The county’s FAQ says a resident may report a missed collection starting at noon on their regular collection day, and its residential trash page says the same.
  • If you saw the truck skip you. Another county FAQ says that if you see the collection truck pass your street and the crew misses your house, you can report it any time after 12 noon that same day.
  • If items are still there at 8 p.m. A September 2024 county notice says that if your materials aren’t picked up by 8 p.m., report it the next business day.

Our recommended approach, which fits all three: report after noon if you actually saw the truck skip your house. If you didn’t see anything, wait until after 8 p.m. and report the next business day. That keeps you from reporting a pickup that was still on its way.

When is it really missed? 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.: crews collect all day. From noon: county reporting opens; if you saw the truck skip you, report. After 8 p.m.: if items are still there, report the next business day. Our tip: no truck sighting? Wait for 8 p.m.
The county’s reporting window opens at noon; our tip is to wait for 8 p.m. unless you saw the truck skip you.

Step 2: Check for a holiday or weather delay

Holiday weeks

The county doesn’t collect trash on certain holidays, and curbside bulky pickup is included in those closures. Collections that week slide to a later day. The county’s list of no-collection holidays is:

  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Juneteenth (observed)
  • Independence Day (observed)
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day (observed)
  • New Year’s Day (observed)

Those four other days aren’t closures: collection still happens on the day after Thanksgiving, Native American Day, Veterans Day (observed) and Presidents’ Day. (The day after Thanksgiving picks up Thursday’s moved routes.)

Coming up, according to the rows in the county’s holiday schedule table:

  • Thanksgiving week (Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, 2026): the county’s holiday schedule table moves Thursday collections to Friday, November 27, and Friday collections to Saturday, November 28. Check the schedule or PGC311 that week to confirm.
  • Christmas (Friday, December 25, 2026): Friday collections move to Saturday, December 26.
  • New Year’s Day (Friday, January 1, 2027): Friday collections move to Saturday, January 2.

If your pickup fell on a holiday, your items weren’t missed. They’re scheduled for the moved collection day that week. The county’s holiday page doesn’t say whether to leave bulky items out in between. Our suggestion: follow your HOA or community rules, and if in doubt, bring them in and set them out again the night before the new day.

Weather

The county’s inclement weather policy says trash, recycling, yard trim and bulky trash may be delayed or suspended for weather or road conditions. How much your pickup moves depends on how long service is suspended:

  • One day suspended: the rest of the week shifts by one day, so a Tuesday route moves to Wednesday and a Friday route moves to Saturday.
  • Two days in a row: the policy shifts routes by two days. Tuesday moves to Thursday, Wednesday to Friday, Thursday to Saturday, and Friday to the following Monday.
  • Longer disruptions: the policy says the make-up schedule can change with weather and road conditions, so follow the county’s posted notice for that storm.
  • Scheduled appointment pickups (appliances, tires and other PGC311 appointments) canceled for severe weather are rescheduled within seven days, according to the policy.

For weather delays, the policy says to leave carts out until collection is completed unless you’re told otherwise.

The county posts delay notices on its website and the Department of the Environment’s site. It also shares them through @PGCSprout and alerts.mypgc.us, and PGC311 can tell you too.

Holiday or weather week? No bulky pickup on county holidays; collections slide later. Thanksgiving: Thursday moves to Friday, Friday moves to Saturday. Christmas: Friday December 25 moves to Saturday December 26. New Year’s Day: Friday January 1 moves to Saturday January 2. Weather delay: one day suspended, routes shift one day; two days, routes shift two days; longer, follow county notices. Canceled appointments are rebooked within 7 days. Source: county holiday and weather pages.
Holiday and weather delays move pickups; how far depends on the suspension.

Step 3: Rule out the usual reasons

These are the most common reasons bulky items stay at the curb. None of them is a missed collection, so a report won’t move them. Here’s what to do instead.

The county isn’t your collector

The county’s bulky program covers homes with county-contracted trash service. It doesn’t cover apartment complexes, and many cities and towns run their own collection. HOAs and private haulers set their own rules too.

What to do: Contact your city, building management, HOA or hauler. If you pay the county only for bulky service, that pickup has to be scheduled through PGC311 first. Our first guide covers how to tell who collects your trash.

Still unsure which office or service to contact? Who Handles This? helps you find the right starting point for trash, roads and other neighborhood problems in Prince George’s County.

More than four items

The county collects up to four bulky items per week, or four tightly secured bags of small household items. It’s four total, not four of each.

Some older county pages, including one of the county’s own FAQ answers, still say two. The limit went up to four on July 1, 2024.

What to do: Bring the extras back in and set them out next week. Spread a big clean-out across two or three trash days.

The item needs an appointment

Washers, dryers, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and other large appliances need a PGC311 appointment, with the doors taped shut. So do passenger car tires (not truck tires) and scrap metal. Set them out on a regular trash day without an appointment, and they stay put.

Flat-screen TVs and computers aren’t collected with trash-day bulky pickup. Our TV disposal guide covers where a TV goes instead. The county’s accepted-items page sends flat-screen TVs to its electronics recycling site, while its bulky trash page also mentions electronics recycling through PGC311.

What to do: Schedule the right pickup through PGC311, then set the item out on the date you’re given. For electronics, ask PGC311 which option applies at your address. The full list is in our bulky trash appointment guide, and Can They Take This? shows the route for 22 common items.

A mattress or box spring wasn’t fully covered

The county requires mattresses and box springs to be completely covered in plastic for curbside pickup. Its mattress disposal instructions say unwrapped mattresses won’t be collected.

What to do: Seal it in a mattress bag or shrink wrap and set it out next week. Our mattress pickup guide walks through wrapping, sealing and counting it.

The item wasn’t prepared or isn’t accepted

Carpet has to be rolled and tied, with a 324-square-foot limit. Grills need the propane tank and charcoal removed. Push mowers need the gas tank off and the oil drained. Bags of small items need to be heavy-duty, 60 pounds or less each.

Some items aren’t accepted in regular trash-day bulky pickup and need a separate route:

  • Renovation debris and lumber: the county says renovation debris is the contractor’s or owner’s responsibility. Its landfill takes a limited amount from homeowners; see the drop-off section of our appointment guide.
  • Paint and batteries: check the county’s household hazardous waste guidance. The county currently takes household hazardous waste at mobile collection events, and car batteries are on its convenience centers’ accepted list.
  • Glass, mirrors, windows and riding mowers: ask PGC311 where to take them.
  • Regular household trash: that goes in your trash cart on your normal collection, not out as a bulky item.

What to do: Fix the prep and set prepared items out next week. Take the others by their separate route.

It wasn’t in the right spot

The county says bulky items go next to your trash cart at the curb, on your regular collection day, out by 5 a.m. Townhome residents should use the curb in front of their own home or assigned parking space. Crews won’t collect from shared common areas.

What to do: Move it next to your cart at your own curb and set it out by 5 a.m. on your next trash day.

Not a missed pickup: needed an appointment, schedule it with PGC311; mattress not covered, seal it and set it out next week; item number five or more, extras wait a week; not county service, call your collector; wrong spot or not prepared, next to the cart by 5 a.m. A report won’t move these.
These aren’t missed pickups, so a report won’t move them.

Step 4: Report the missed collection

If none of the reasons above fits, report it. The county says to report a missed bulky collection through PGC311.

How to report

  • Online, any time: pgc311.com or the PGC311 app. Choose “Missed Collection and Other Collection Issues.”
  • By phone: 311 from inside the county, or 301-883-4748 from outside it. Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Actual screenshot of pgc311.com on October 14, 2026, showing the request type “Missed Collection and Other Collection Issues,” described as for missed collection, improper placement, mixed collection, spillage and damage caused by hauler, handled by the Department of the Environment, with a resolution estimate of 2 business days.
The PGC311 request type, as shown on October 14, 2026.

When we viewed the portal on October 14, 2026 (screenshot above), the request said it’s for “missed collection, improper placement, mixed collection, spillage and damage caused by hauler.” It listed the Department of the Environment as the handling department and showed a resolution estimate of 2 business days. That’s the county’s estimate, not a guarantee.

The online form has five steps. The first lets you add a photo, and the second asks for the location. We stopped there without entering an address, so we can’t tell you what the remaining steps ask.

Have this ready

Have this ready before you report: your address and collection day; what you set out and how many; when it went out, by 5 a.m. next to the cart; whether the truck passed and roughly when; a photo, optional but clearest. Keep your request number.
Details that make a missed-pickup report easy to act on.
  • Your service address
  • Your regular collection day (if you’re not sure, the county has an online trash-day lookup, or PGC311 can tell you)
  • What you set out and how many: for example, “a couch, a chair and a covered mattress, three items”
  • When you set it out, and that it was next to your cart at your own curb
  • Whether you saw the truck pass, and roughly when
  • A photo of the items next to your cart, if you have one

A photo is optional, but it’s the clearest way to show the items were out, prepared and in the right place.

What to say

“I have county trash service at [address]. My collection day is [day]. I set out [items, number] next to my trash cart by 5 a.m. They weren’t collected by 8 p.m. [or: I saw the truck pass my house at about (time)]. I’d like to report a missed bulky collection.”

After you report

  • Keep your request number. The portal shows request numbers and says you’ll receive updates.
  • Ask whether to leave the items out. The county’s pages don’t say what to do with bulky items while a missed-collection report is open, so ask PGC311 when you file.
  • The county may send someone to look. Its September 2024 notice says an inspector is dispatched to look into missed-collection reports.
  • If the estimate passes, our suggestion is to call 311 with your request number and ask for an update, rather than starting a new request.

Common mistakes when reporting

  1. Reporting at 10 a.m. on a normal day. Crews have until 8 p.m., and the county’s reporting window opens at noon. Unless you saw the truck skip you, wait until after 8 p.m. and report the next business day, so you don’t report a pickup that was still coming.
  2. Reporting during a holiday or weather week. Your pickup may simply have moved to a later day.
  3. Reporting a rule problem as a missed pickup. Extra items, appointment items and uncovered mattresses won’t be collected because of a report.
  4. Reporting to the county when your city, building or hauler collects your trash.
  5. Going in without details. Your address, collection day, item count and a photo make the report easier to act on.

Quick checklist

  • ☐ I saw the truck skip me and it’s now after noon, or my items were still out after 8 p.m. and it’s the next business day.
  • ☐ It wasn’t a holiday or weather-delay week.
  • ☐ The county collects my trash (or I scheduled bulky-only pickup through PGC311).
  • ☐ I set out four bulky items or fewer.
  • ☐ Nothing needed an appointment.
  • ☐ Mattresses were fully covered, carpet tied, tanks removed, bags under 60 pounds.
  • ☐ Everything was next to my trash cart at my own curb by 5 a.m.
  • ☐ I have my address, collection day, item list and a photo ready for PGC311.
Actual screenshot of the Can They Take This? tool on October 14, 2026, showing the start screen: “What are you getting rid of?” with a search box for items like couch, fridge or tires.
Check any of 22 common items in Can They Take This?

Checking a specific item? Can They Take This? shows whether 22 common household items go out on trash day, need an appointment, or need another route, with the county source for each answer.

Frequently asked questions

When can I report a missed bulky pickup in PG County?
The county says you can report starting at noon on your collection day, and a 2024 county notice says that if items aren’t picked up by 8 p.m., report it the next business day. Our recommended approach: report after noon if you saw the truck skip your house; otherwise wait until after 8 p.m. and report the next business day.

How do I report a missed bulky collection?
Through PGC311, online at pgc311.com or in the app, using “Missed Collection and Other Collection Issues,” or by calling 311 (301-883-4748 from outside the county), Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

How long does it take to fix a missed collection?
When we checked on October 14, 2026, the PGC311 portal showed a resolution estimate of 2 business days for missed-collection requests. That’s an estimate, not a guarantee.

My trash cart was emptied but my bulky items are still there. Were they missed?
Not necessarily. Crews collect until 8 p.m., and the county’s pages don’t say bulky items always ride on the same truck as your trash. Unless you saw the truck skip your house, we suggest waiting until after 8 p.m. and reporting the next business day.

Is there bulky pickup on holidays?
No, not on the county’s listed holidays. Curbside bulky pickup is included in holiday closures, and collections that week move to a later day. Check the county’s holiday schedule for your week.

Why would the county leave a mattress behind?
Most likely it wasn’t completely covered in plastic. The county requires a full plastic cover for mattresses and box springs at the curb.

I put out six items and only four were taken. Can I report the rest?
No. The county collects up to four bulky items per week. Bring the rest back in and set them out next week.

I live in an apartment. Who do I call?
Your property management. The county’s bulky program doesn’t cover apartment complexes.

Pinterest graphic: Bulky trash not picked up in Prince George’s County? Check first, then report it to PGC311. Crews collect until 8 p.m. Holiday or weather week? Four items or fewer? No appointment item? Mattress fully covered? Next to your cart by 5 a.m.? Still missed? Use PGC311’s “Missed Collection and Other Collection Issues.”
Save this for trash day.

More Kalm Kode guides

Official sources

Checked October 14, 2026:

Rules change. If anything here doesn’t match what PGC311 tells you, go with PGC311, and message us at @kalmkode so we can update this guide.