City-Wide LARGE item Pick up
Twice a year, during the spring and again in the fall, the City of Clear Lake offers an opportunity for residents to dispose of bulky household items such as furniture, appliances, and items not suitable for donation, etc. This Program is typically conducted during April and again in October and is for residential customers only.
Pick up is for larger items not usually picked up through your weekly service. Please note that we will not pick up any items in a garbage can, cardboard box or plastic bags. The City will not pick up in alleys or from businesses. Most items are collected at no cost.
APPLIANCES and other items listed below are NOT collected FREE during Large Item City-wide Clean-up. City residents can have old appliances picked up during City-Wide LARGE item clean-up for a cost of $15 an item. Stickers, which need to be affixed to the disposed appliance, can be purchased for $15 each at Clear Lake City Hall. Appliances that need a sticker are: televisions, furnaces, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, stoves, washers, dryers, microwaves, copy machines, water heaters, florescent light fixtures, computer monitors and printers. Appliances should be intact for safe recovery of contaminates, except that doors should be removed from freezers and refrigerators. APPLIANCE STICKERS must be purchased by 4:30 pm on the Wednesday of the pick-up week. Your item must be placed at your curb (not an alley) by 7 am the following morning (Thursday) with sticker affixed for pick up that day. We pick up all items requiring a sticker on Thursday.
This disposal fee was approved by City Council and it is intended to help offset the rising costs of collecting appliances separately so that they can be recycled rather than placed in the landfill. Clear Lake residents are reminded that most businesses that sell appliances charge an appliance disposal fee to recover the cost of disposing of an appliance. Citizens are encouraged to allow the business selling the new appliance to dispose of their old one(s).
For further information, please call the Clear Lake City Hall at (641) 357-5267 during normal business hours.
Items that will be accepted by Absolute Waste Removal in your weekly residential garbage pickups are: electric heaters, garbage disposals, humidifiers, vacuum cleaners, toasters and can openers. If you have any questions, please call Absolute Waste Removal at (641) 357-4517.
Note: The following items will not be picked up due to regulatory, environmental, or economic reasons:
- E-Waste (electronics). The Landfill of North Iowa began an electronic waste-recycling program. Landfill customers may drop off VCR's, DVD players, stereo equipment, clock radios, gaming equipment, computer towers, mouses and keyboards, input devices, scanners, video and surveillance cameras, fax machines and cordless phones for recycling at their e-cycling building. Many of the above items may be recycled free of charge.
- Fluorescent Light Bulbs. Please take these bulbs to the Landfill for disposal.
- Yard waste (grass, leaves, and garden residue) and wood waste (brush, branches, and tree limbs). These items may be taken to the yard waste drop off site and disposed of for no charge.
- Construction and demolition material (bricks, stones, concrete, concrete block or rubble, shingles, lumber, landscape timbers, siding, and drywall). City crews will take small amounts of dimensional lumber and drywall, less than 4’ in length and bundled (bundles less than 50 lbs.).
- Liquids (motor oil, antifreeze, paint, and household chemicals). Some service stations accept motor oil for recycling. Empty paint cans will be accepted if the drivers can see that the paint is dried or absorbed with a substance like cat litter or saw dust.
- Hazardous materials (flammables, propane tanks, auto parts, explosives). Auto parts should be taken to an auto salvage yard. Propane tanks may be taken to area recyclers. Call the Landfill of North Iowa at (641) 357-5452 for information regarding hazardous substance disposal.