Free tool · Taipei and New Taipei
When does the garbage truck come?
In Taiwan you take your trash to a truck that stops on your street at a set time. Find the stops near you and see when the next truck arrives, like checking when your bus comes.
Share your location or search an address to see the garbage truck stops around you and when the next truck comes.
How to use this tracker
STEP 01
Find your stops
Tap “Use my location”, or type an address, a landmark or an MRT station in English. You'll see every truck stop within 500 m.
STEP 02
Read the countdown
The circle shows how long until the truck arrives: minutes if it's soon, a time if it's later today, or the next day it comes. “Now” in red means the truck should be at the stop.
STEP 03
Follow the truck live
In New Taipei, the city shares where each truck is. Look for the “Live” line: it tells you how many stops away the truck is, updated every minute.
STEP 04
Head to the stop
Tap “Open in Maps” to find the exact spot, and get there a few minutes early. Trucks can run a little ahead of the timetable.
Using it every week? Save it to your phone's home screen. On iPhone, tap Share in Safari, then “Add to Home Screen”. On Android, open the Chrome menu and tap “Add to home screen”.
Trash day in Taiwan, in three steps
It feels strange the first week. By the third week it's routine.
01
Use the city's official trash bags
General trash has to go in the city's official pay-as-you-throw bags. Convenience stores and supermarkets sell them; ask at the counter for the garbage bags for this city. Taipei trucks also take New Taipei bags. Regular plastic bags get refused, and leaving trash out can cost you a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$6,000.
02
Sort into three
Keep trash, recycling and food scraps apart. Recycling is free: rinse bottles, cans and containers, and bring them in any bag. Food scraps go in the bins on the back of the truck, drained of liquid. In Taipei, all food scraps now go in the blue bin.
03
Wait at the stop and listen for the music
There are no street bins and no curbside pickup. You carry your bags to the stop and hand them over when the truck arrives. You'll hear it before you see it: trucks play classical music, usually Für Elise or A Maiden's Prayer. A second truck for recycling follows right behind.
Still looking for a place? Ask about trash first.
If you work late, chasing a 7:30 pm truck gets old fast. Some buildings have a trash room you can use any time, and some landlords include a pickup service in the rent. When TRA views apartments with you, we check how trash works in each one and ask the landlord the questions you wouldn't know to ask.
Questions people ask
What days does the garbage truck come in Taipei?
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There is no collection on Wednesdays or Sundays. Recycling follows a split schedule: paper and old clothes on Mondays and Fridays, and bottles, cans, plastics and other recyclables on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
What days does it come in New Taipei?
It depends on the route, so the tool above shows the trash, recycling and food scrap days for each stop. Most New Taipei routes skip Wednesdays and Sundays too.
Is the New Taipei truck location really live?
Yes. The New Taipei Environmental Protection Department publishes the GPS position of every truck on its rounds, refreshed about every two minutes. This page checks it every minute. Taipei only publishes timetables, so Taipei stops show the scheduled time.
Where do I buy official garbage bags?
Any convenience store (7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life, OK Mart) and most supermarkets. They come in several sizes and are sold in packs. Bags from Taipei and New Taipei both work on Taipei trucks.
I missed the truck. What now?
Try another stop on the same route later in the evening: the list above shows every stop nearby with its time. Taipei also runs fixed drop-off points with set hours. Many apartment buildings with a management office have their own trash room, so ask your building manager.
How do I get rid of furniture or a mattress?
Big items don't go on the regular truck. Call 1999, the city hotline, to book a bulky-item pickup with your district's cleaning team.
Are the holiday schedules different?
Yes. Collection stops for a few days over Lunar New Year, and the cities post special schedules around other long holidays. Check the city's notice before a long weekend.
Data: Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection (stop timetables) and New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department (routes and live truck positions), via each city's open data platform. Address search © OpenStreetMap contributors. English street names are converted automatically and may differ slightly from street signs.