Appliance Recycling in Elizabethtown, Kentucky

The City of Elizabethtown runs free appliance pickup exactly five days a year — April 27 through May 1 — and only by call-in, and only for non-freon units. Dropcurb takes washers, dryers, ranges, dishwashers, microwaves, and water heaters from the curb at $79, same-day when you book before noon, and refrigerators, freezers, and window ACs at $134 with the $25 EPA § 608 recycling fee baked in. The city's published rule is verbatim: "APRIL 27th THRU MAY 1st – APPLIANCES COLLECTED ON A CALL-IN BASIS ONLY, 270-737-7890." Miss the window and the next pass is up to eleven months away. A fridge that dies in June, a water heater that fails in November, a washer pulled on a Fort Knox PCS move-out in October — the city window is closed. The unincorporated Hardin County footprint is off the city route entirely (Hardin Billing Service 270-735-9953, hauling by Unified Disposal Partners 270-769-0211), and 1-800-GOT-JUNK does not list a dedicated Elizabethtown page — any crew routes ~45 miles down I-65 from Louisville at a $150+ minimum with on-site estimate. You curb it. We disappear it by tonight, locked at checkout, no in-home walkthrough, no annual call-in window to time.

City program details: The City of Elizabethtown Department of Public Works (301 Water Works Drive, 270-737-7890) runs a single annual Spring Clean-Up. Junk and debris are collected March 30 – May 1, 2026 on a rotating four-zone schedule; appliances are collected April 27 – May 1, 2026 on a call-in-only basis at 270-737-7890. The city's published rule is verbatim: "APRIL 27th THRU MAY 1st – APPLIANCES COLLECTED ON A CALL-IN BASIS ONLY, 270-737-7890." Accepted units inside that window are limited to "de-humidifiers, washing machines, dryers, ranges, water heaters." Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and central air units containing freon will not be collected without a tag indicating the refrigerant has been removed by a Section 608-certified technician. Outside the late-April window there is no monthly bulk pickup, no on-demand appliance pickup, and no second annual cleanup published. Curbside placement must be within 10 feet of the street, away from overhead power lines, not mixed with brush or smaller items. Collection zones split along US 31-W and KY 1357 / CSX Railroad / KY 251. Weekly residential trash for 42701/42702 is contracted through Waste Management; standard residential routes do not pick up large appliances. Unincorporated Hardin County residents (outside city limits) are on the Mandatory Residential Curbside Trash Ordinance, billed through Hardin Billing Service at 270-735-9953 with hauling by Unified Disposal Partners / Platform Waste Solutions at 270-769-0211 — the unincorporated program does not publish a free on-demand appliance pickup.

Elizabethtown is the rare U.S. city with no on-demand municipal appliance pickup of any kind. The City of Elizabethtown Department of Public Works (301 Water Works Drive, 270-737-7890) runs exactly one collection window per year for appliances — April 27 through May 1 in 2026 — folded into the broader Spring Clean-Up that runs March 30 through May 1 for junk and debris. The city's published rule is verbatim that appliance pickup during that window is "ON A CALL-IN BASIS ONLY" at 270-737-7890, with accepted units limited to "de-humidifiers, washing machines, dryers, ranges, water heaters." Refrigerators, freezers, window ACs, and central air units fall under a hard stop: "APPLIANCES CONTAINING FREON WILL NOT BE COLLECTED WITHOUT A TAG, INDICATING THAT THE FREON HAS BEEN REMOVED." That is federal EPA Clean Air Act § 608 spilling onto the curb — a Section 608-certified HVAC tech must evacuate the refrigerant and apply the tag before the city truck will load the unit. The city splits collection across four geographic zones drawn off US 31-W and KY 1357 / CSX Railroad / KY 251, with crews returning to each area "as often as they are able to during the month of April." Outside that five-day appliance window there is no monthly bulk pickup, no second annual cleanup, and no on-demand appliance route published on the Public Works page. Weekly residential trash for 42701 and 42702 runs through Waste Management, but standard residential collection does not pick up large appliances. Step outside city limits into unincorporated Hardin County and the picture changes — the Mandatory Residential Curbside Trash Ordinance bills through Hardin Billing Service at 270-735-9953 with hauling by Unified Disposal Partners / Platform Waste Solutions at 270-769-0211; no free on-demand appliance pickup is published. The regional MSW endpoint for self-haul is Pearl Hollow Landfill at 1620 Audubon Trace, Elizabethtown KY 42701 (Hardin County–operated, 270-506-1062), open Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one Saturday per month. Hardin County Solid Waste at 150 N Provident Way Suite 223 (270-360-9207) layers on three free events that displace some appliance and e-waste load: Electronic Scrap Disposal April 25, Landfill Disposal May 30 and September 12, with Household Hazardous Waste date pending. The competitor map matters: 1-800-GOT-JUNK does not list a dedicated Elizabethtown service-area page — a direct probe at the company's national locations URL redirects to its 404 page — so any 1-800-GOT-JUNK crew is driving roughly 45 miles down I-65 from the Louisville franchise at the brand's $150+ minimum with on-site estimate. College Hunks ($150-$800+), Junk King ($389+), Junkluggers ($200-$600+), and Stand Up Guys ($95+ on-site) do not surface dedicated Elizabethtown pages either. Local independent haulers on Yelp and Thumbtack for the 42701 ZIP — Get It Gone, Kennedy's Junk Removal, Junk Haul Solutions, White Haul Away Service, AMR Junk & Debris Removal Service, Bag It Up Junk Removal, Borders Dumpsters, and Junk Patrol KY — work phone-quote and text-quote per load with no published per-appliance flat rates. Two local drivers stack on top of the route gap: about half of Elizabethtown rents (49.3% owner / ~50.7% renter, well below the U.S. ~65% baseline), and the renter share is heavily inflated by Fort Knox 15 miles north and the active-duty / civilian PCS rotation through the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, driving move-out appliance volume that does not align with a once-a-year city window. The second is the BlueOval SK (Ford / SK On) EV battery campus in Glendale, which is driving construction-related and worker-housing turnover into Elizabethtown proper. Köppen Cfa humid subtropical climate puts year-round HVAC and refrigerator load on the appliance pool — compressors fail on their own schedule, not the city's calendar.

Dropcurb picks up appliances same-day in Elizabethtown for $134 flat — no wait, no annual limits, no restrictions.