Not the county’s website. This guide is from Lake Lanier Junk Removal, a referral service. The facts were checked on October 17, 2026, and the hazardous waste days on November 12, 2026; fees and hours change, so check the county's recycling centers page before you go.
The three centers
- Tolbert Street: 351 Tolbert Street, Cumming.
- Old Atlanta: 3678 Old Atlanta Road, Suwanee.
- Coal Mountain: 3560 Settingdown Road, Cumming.
All three are open Monday to Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Sundays and county holidays. They are for Forsyth County residents only, and take no commercial or business waste. The county is clear that they are not a landfill.
What they take, and what it costs
- Household trash: 50 cents a bag if you also bring recycling, $1 a bag if not. Up to 5 bags a day, no bigger than 32 gallons. Cash only.
- Scrap metal, free: washers, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, water heaters, grills and the like, with fluids removed.
- Electronics, at Tolbert Street only: TVs $12 each, but no wooden console or rear-projection sets. Other electronics $2 an item, or $5 for as many as you bring.
- Paint, at all three, in its original can and not leaking. Latex: $1 a quart or smaller, $3 a gallon, $5 for 2 gallons, $10 for 5 gallons. Oil-based: $1 a pint, $2 a quart, $4 a gallon, $15 for 5 gallons.
- Tires, at Coal Mountain only: $3 each, or $15 on a rim. Up to 6 a week, and no solid tires.
What they won't take
- Furniture, mattresses and anything too big for a 32-gallon bag, apart from metal, electronics and tires.
- Yard waste.
- Hazardous materials, which go to the hazardous waste days instead.
For furniture, mattresses and bulky items, the county's FAQ points residents to private landfills: Eagle Point Landfill in Ball Ground, Pine Bluff Landfill in Cherokee County, and Richland Creek Landfill in Gwinnett County. Call ahead to check they take loads from residents, and what they charge. For fridges and freezers, the county points residents to private scrap recyclers.
The county doesn't collect trash at the curb. If you live inside Cumming's city limits, the city collects some bulky items; see junk removal in Cumming.
Hazardous waste days
Forsyth County and Keep Forsyth County Beautiful hold a household hazardous waste day twice a year, in the spring and the fall. The last was on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at the Freedom Park Campus in Cumming. When this guide was checked, the next date had not been announced; the Keep Forsyth County Beautiful website posts it.
- Register first. Spaces are limited. For the November 2026 event, registration opened about three weeks before, on the Keep Forsyth County Beautiful website.
- Who: Forsyth County residents, with household waste only. At the November 2026 event, up to 10 gallons of paint per vehicle, free, with a $5 donation suggested.
- Taken in November 2026: paint and stains, aerosols, electronics, fuels, car fluids, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, pesticides, pool chemicals and small propane cylinders.
- Not taken: medical waste and needles, ammunition and explosives, and medicines.
Between events, the county advises solidifying liquid paint and putting it in the trash. Keep Forsyth County Beautiful adds: leave the lid off the solidified can, since most waste companies won't take closed paint cans.
When hiring a hauler is easier
- It's furniture or mattresses, which the centers refuse.
- You don't have a truck, or the things are heavy, upstairs or in a basement.
- It's a whole room, a garage or a house.
A junk removal company charges for the job, including its own disposal fees. Ask for the price before work starts.