Most City Services Operating Through the Holidays

Communications Director

Kristin Farley
[email protected]
(865) 215-2589

400 Main St., Room 691
Knoxville, TN 37902

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Most City Services Operating Through the Holidays

Posted: 12/18/2019
City of Knoxville offices will be closed Christmas Eve on Tuesday, Dec. 24, Christmas Day on Wednesday, Dec. 25, and New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. Additionally, Knoxville Area Transit buses and trolleys do not run on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

For getting out and around during the holidays, KAT buses and trolleys will run on Saturday schedules on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and on regular Monday schedules on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

There will be no household garbage or recycling collection Wednesday, Dec. 25. Residential and downtown collections will resume Thursday, Dec. 26, and pickups will be one day behind the regular schedule. Wednesday routes will be picked up on Thursday. Thursday routes will be picked up Friday, and so on through Saturday.

Waste Connections will pick up garbage and recycling on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. However, their offices will be closed. 

For tips on how to prevent waste by recycling or donating gently used items during this giving season, please visit knoxvilletn.gov/recyclingguide.

Properly bagged excess holiday household trash and broken-down cardboard set next to full garbage carts will be picked up. Please remember to have garbage and recycling containers out for pickup before 7 a.m. on your respective pickup day.

City recycling centers will be open, but the Goodwill attendant will only be available for household goods donations for a half day on Tuesday, Dec. 24. The center will be unstaffed but open for recycling drop-off on Wednesday, Dec. 25, and Wednesday, Jan.1. 

Holiday recycling is extended to live Christmas trees. If you’re a City of Knoxville resident, you can place bare trees at the curb for Public Service workers to collect as time and resources allow during the ongoing leaf collection season. 

Christmas trees can also be taken to Knox County Convenience Centers for recycling. Knox County Convenience Centers do not accept waste from businesses, commercial institutions or nonprofit organizations.

For more information about Christmas Tree and Christmas lights recycling, visit https://bit.ly/34zLy6Y .

The City's Solid Waste Management Facility located at 1033 Elm Street will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and Wednesday, Dec. 25, with normal hours resuming Thursday, Dec. 26. For the New Year’s Day holiday, the Facility will be closed Wednesday, Jan. 1, with normal hours resuming Thursday, Jan. 2.  

Free for City Residents Day at the Solid Waste Management Facility is Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, the first Saturday of the month, as usual. This service is for City of Knoxville residents only. 

As a general reminder, Christmas and Thanksgiving are the only days of the year when curbside trash and recycling are not picked up as scheduled.