How do I get rid of an old sofa, mattress or fridge?

Barcelona collects old furniture from the street for free, on one fixed evening a week for each street. Put it out in front of your building door between 20:00 and 22:00 on your street’s day. Find your day before you carry anything down.

Does this apply to me

Yes, for household items, in every district, and nothing here depends on your immigration status. It does not cover building rubble, and it does not cover a fridge or an air conditioner — those have their own rule below.

What it costs

Free. The weekly kerbside collection costs nothing for private residents. So does a punt verd, a recycling centre, including for private individuals at the large zone sites. There is also a paid home-collection service for large volumes; the council publishes no price for it, so ask for a quote through the Oficina Virtual de Tràmits rather than assuming a figure.

What to bring

Nothing. You need your street address, so that you can look up the right evening.

Where to go, and how to book

Four steps, and the first one is the one people skip.

• Find your street’s collection day. Use the council’s waste finder at ajuntament.barcelona.cat/cercador-de-residus, entering the item and your address. Or call 010, which is free from within the Barcelona metropolitan area. Or call the free civic-services line, 900 226 226.
• On that evening, between 20:00 and 22:00, put the item on the pavement in front of your building’s door.
• A fridge, freezer or air conditioner containing CFCs goes to a punt verd instead, never onto the street.
• For large volumes, request the paid home collection through the Oficina Virtual de Tràmits. It collects within 36 hours, Monday to Friday, and is open to households, shops, offices and small businesses.

Three neighbourhoods work differently, and only take what was phoned in

How long it takes

On an ordinary street, the items are collected after the 22:00 window on your street’s day. In the three neighbourhoods above, the day after you put them out. The paid service, under 36 hours, Monday to Friday.

What happens next

The pavement is cleared. If the item still works, consider giving it away first — the council runs reuse and repair schemes, and a working sofa is worth more to a neighbour than to a lorry.

What is collected

• Sofas
• Doors
• Furniture
• Chairs
• Boxes and wooden slats
• Blinds
• Broken toys

What is not collected

• Rubble, toilets, basins and similar items if you have had building work done
• Fridges, freezers and air conditioners with CFC components — those must go to a punt verd

What goes wrong

• Putting furniture out on the wrong night is the common mistake, and it then sits on the pavement for a week in your own building’s doorway.
• Putting it out in the afternoon is the other one: the window is 20:00 to 22:00, not before.
• A fridge left on the street will not be taken.
• If you live in Vallvidrera, El Rectoret, Mas Sauró, Mas Guimbau, Font del Mont or Tibidabo, the lorry only takes what was phoned in first.

Useful words

Read next

• Which bin does it go in? — the five containers, and what a punt verd takes that they do not.
• What is 010, and what can it actually do for me? — the free line that will tell you your street’s day.

Official source

Barcelona City Council, “Recogida de muebles y trastos viejos”, at ajuntament.barcelona.cat/neteja-i-residus, for the free weekly collection, the 20:00–22:00 window, the three phone-first neighbourhoods, and what is and is not taken.