Junk removal costs in Lancaster

A couch at the curb in Lancaster takes the place of two bags of trash. Each household can set out up to six 32-gallon bags a week, at 30 pounds or less each. Each unit can also put out one oversized item, and that week your trash limit drops to four containers. Sofas, stuffed chairs, other furniture, mattress and box spring sets, and rolled carpet up to 4 feet wide all count.

Appliances never ride with the weekly trash. A fridge, freezer, air conditioner, dehumidifier, washer, dryer, water heater or even a microwave waits for the city's monthly white goods collection, with a tag you buy at the Treasury Office on West Chestnut Street. That program makes sure the refrigerant gets recovered.

Bigger jobs go to the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, or LCSWMA. It doesn't collect at the curb; private haulers bring material to its sites. Its Transfer Station Complex takes bulky items, appliances, construction waste and electronics, from Lancaster County only. Every open load has to be tarped and secured, and repeat violations can get your access suspended. Its waste-to-energy plant in Bainbridge takes construction debris only in loads the size of a residential pickup truck or smaller.

Before you drag a sleeper sofa out front, picture the crew that has to lift it. The city's rule is that an oversized item can be no heavier than two men can lift and load into a trash truck.