Where it can
actually go
Most of what a household needs hauled is on somebody's refusal list. This page is the plain version of which, and why — so you find out here rather than at a gate with a loaded truck.
Saturdays only, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., excluding holiday weekends. Open to City of Athens residents only, and residential use only — commercial dumping is not permitted.
Bring with you
- A valid driver's license
- A current City of Athens water bill
The water bill requirement is the one that catches people. If you live at the lake, in an unincorporated community, or anywhere outside the city limits, this station is not available to you at all.
Accepted
- Household garbage refuse
- Brush and limbs
- Glass recycling
Refused
- Appliances containing Freon
- Hazardous waste
- Construction debris
- Waste oil and fluids
- Asphalt shingles
- Tires
- Dirt
- Batteries
Source: City of Athens published collection-station rules, checked August 2026. Rules change — confirm before you drive.
The county's precinct collection stations serve the areas outside Athens. They refuse a shorter list than the city does, but it is the expensive part of the list.
We are not publishing station hours or fees here. Two sources online contradict each other, and putting a wrong opening time on a website is how somebody wastes a Saturday. Call your precinct and ask.
Refused at county stations
- Anything containing Freon — refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners
- Tires
- Household hazardous waste
- Contractor shingles
Federal Clean Air Act §608 requires refrigerant to be recovered with certified equipment before an appliance is scrapped. That is why the stations turn refrigerators away — it is not arbitrary.
It is not the station being difficult. Refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioning units and dehumidifiers all fall under it, which is why a chest freezer is the single most common item in this county that a homeowner cannot solve by borrowing a truck.
We do not haul tires, and it is worth saying why rather than just listing it as excluded. Transporting scrap tires in Texas requires registration with the TCEQ — manifests for every load, an annual report, and the registration number displayed on the vehicle.
Anyone offering to take tires off your hands without that registration is creating a problem that lands on the property owner. The stations will not take them either. A registered scrap tire facility is the answer.
On the refusal list?
That is the list we exist for. Call (903) 275-0638 and it goes.