What Junk Removal Companies Won't Take in Polk County, FL

Junk removal companies will not take hazardous materials, and the list is shorter than most people expect: paint, chemicals, solvents, pesticides, gasoline, propane tanks, tires, asbestos, medical waste and ammunition. Almost everything else in a house, garage or job site is fair game, including a lot of items people assume we will refuse.

We turn down maybe one item per week across all our jobs in Polk and Hillsborough County. Here is what those items are, where a Polk County resident takes each one instead, and the long list of heavy or awkward things we do take.

Why do junk removal companies refuse certain items?

The landfills and transfer stations we use refuse these items at the gate, and a truck with a gallon of paint or a propane cylinder in the load can be turned away or fined. Our insurance does not cover hauling hazardous material either, and our guys ride a few feet from the load.

So the rule is simple. If a landfill will not accept it in a mixed load, it does not go in the truck. That is the same thinking behind our eco-friendly disposal sorting, where donations and recyclables come out first and only the leftovers go to the landfill.

What will Junk By Tuck not take?

Here is our full list. If it is not on this list, assume we take it.

Paint, stains and finishes. Latex, oil-based, spray cans with product left in them, wood stain, polyurethane. A dried-out empty can is fine. A half-full gallon is not.

Household chemicals and cleaners. Pool chlorine, muriatic acid, drain cleaner, bleach, ammonia, anything with a warning label and liquid inside.

Solvents. Paint thinner, mineral spirits, acetone, lacquer thinner.

Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer with chemicals. Half-used bags and bottles from the garage shelf are the usual culprit.

Gasoline, diesel, kerosene and used motor oil. Including the fuel left inside a mower, pressure washer or generator. Drain it first and we will take the equipment.

Propane tanks. Grill cylinders, camping bottles, the big tank behind the house.

Tires. With or without rims. Landfills charge separately for tires and refuse them in mixed loads.

Asbestos-containing material. Old floor tile, pipe insulation, popcorn ceiling, some pre-1980 siding. If you suspect asbestos, do not disturb it.

Medical waste. Sharps, biohazard bags, anything from a home health setup that touched bodily fluids.

Ammunition, fireworks and explosives. No exceptions.

Wet or oozing hazardous material. A leaking car battery, a drum of unknown liquid, a bucket that has baked in the sun for three years. We do not open mystery containers.

Where does a Polk County resident take those items?

Most of it goes to one place. Polk County runs a household hazardous waste area at the North Central Landfill, 7425 De Castro Road, Winter Haven, FL 33880. Residents can drop off household chemicals including oil, paint, solvents and pesticides. The landfill is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., phone (863) 284-4319. Out-of-county waste is not accepted, so this is for Polk County residents only. Hillsborough County customers should look up their own county's household hazardous waste program.

For tires and propane tanks, the county handles those separately from the household chemical drop-off. Fees vary by material and weight, so check the Polk County Solid Waste landfill page for current rules and rates before you load them in the trunk. Many propane exchange retailers will also take an empty grill cylinder when you swap for a full one.

Asbestos and medical waste are different. Neither is a drop-it-off-yourself item. Asbestos abatement and disposal require a licensed specialty contractor, and medical waste requires a licensed medical waste hauler. If you are cleaning out a relative's home with either one present, call a specialist for that part and we will handle everything else in the house.

What do people wrongly assume junk removal companies will not take?

This is the more useful list, because it saves people from renting a trailer or paying a specialist for something we do every week.

Refrigerators, freezers and AC units. Yes, even with the refrigerant still in them. Federal law, Section 608 of the Clean Air Act, requires refrigerant to be recovered before disposal. We take the unit to a licensed facility that recovers the refrigerant and then recycles the metal. You do not need to have it drained first. See our appliance removal page.

Hot tubs. We cut them into sections on site and haul the pieces. A typical Lakeland lanai hot tub, drained, is a 1/2 to 3/4 load.

Pianos. Uprights and baby grands. Heavy, awkward, and a common call from older homes around Lake Hollingsworth and Dixieland.

Sheds, fences and decks. We take these apart and haul them under our demolition cleanup service. A rusted metal shed that Hurricane Milton bent sideways, a rotted wood fence line, an old pool deck. Light demolition is part of the job.

Construction debris. Drywall, lumber, tile, cabinets, roofing shingles, concrete, brick, pavers. The City of Lakeland will not collect any of this at the curb, and it will not collect anything a contractor generated, so it lands with us. Details on the construction debris removal page.

E-waste and televisions. Old tube TVs, flat screens, computer towers, monitors, printers. The City of Lakeland excludes all of it from bulk pickup. We take it and route it to e-waste recycling.

Mattresses and box springs. Every size, every condition.

Exercise equipment. Treadmills, ellipticals, home gyms, weight benches. We disassemble as needed.

Water-damaged furniture. After a roof leak or a storm, soaked couches and swollen particleboard dressers are still just furniture to us.

Lawn mowers, pressure washers and generators. Yes, once the fuel and oil are drained.

Car batteries and lead-acid batteries. Intact ones, yes. Leaking ones, no.

The photo-first rule for anything questionable

If you are not sure, text a photo to (888) 296-8825 with your ZIP code. Tuck looks at it and replies with one of three answers: yes and here is the price, no and here is where to take it, or yes if you do this one thing first (drain the gas, pull the propane tank off the grill, bag the moldy cushions).

It costs nothing and prevents the truck arriving and having to leave something behind. It also gets you an exact price before we load anything, since we price by the space items take in the truck, $130 for an eighth of a load to $650 for a full one. Instructions are on the send photos page.

Accepted or not: item by item

How does this play out on a real cleanout?

Picture a garage cleanout in Auburndale: a dead chest freezer, a treadmill, boxes of old clothes, a rusted grill with a propane tank, three cans of paint, a bag of fertilizer and a stack of pavers. We take the freezer, treadmill, boxes, grill and pavers, and the clothes go to donation. The propane tank comes off the grill for the exchange rack, and the paint and fertilizer go in one box for your next trip to Winter Haven.

That is how nearly every job goes. The list of things we will not take fits in one box. The list of things we will take fills the truck.

Written by Tuck

Owner-operator of Junk By Tuck LLC in Lakeland. Tuck has personally hauled 450+ jobs across Polk and Hillsborough Counties and answers the phone himself. More about Tuck