Junk removal costs in Anchorage

In Anchorage, your trash plan has to account for bears. The Municipality's Solid Waste Services asks you to keep carts out of reach of bears, ravens and dogs, and it offers bear-resistant carts. Carts go out by 7 a.m. on collection day, not the night before. The automated trucks can't pick up trash that isn't in a cart, so extra bags mean a call to customer service or a wait for your next pickup.

Big things get their own day. Inside SWS's mandatory service area, bulky item pickup runs on Saturdays. You book it by phone, and additional charges apply. Service is set up through the property owner, so renters start with the landlord.

Hauling it yourself? The Central Transfer Station in Midtown takes residential loads Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at its East 56th Avenue entrance. Stoves, washers, dryers, workout gear, grills and lawn mowers go in a separate metals pile. A fridge needs its doors off and has to be empty. Hot tubs aren't taken. Every load has to arrive covered and secured. While you're there, the ReUse Store in the household hazardous waste building lets residents take up to 40 pounds of stuff for free.

Out in Eagle River, the wood lot at the Anchorage Regional Landfill has a free window. From May through October, wood-only loads go free on Fridays and Saturdays. Lumber, pallets and other building materials don't count, though. The wood lots charge those as refuse.