Appliance Removal in Madison, WI

Why appliances are their own category

Wis. Stat. s. 287.07 keeps major appliances out of every Wisconsin landfill and incinerator. Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers also hold refrigerant, and NR 488 requires anyone who transports or dismantles that equipment for disposal, waste haulers included, to register with the DNR and use certified recovery.

In the City of Madison

Appliances go out on a Large Item Work Order like furniture, but in their own pile, because a different crew collects metal and appliances for recycling. Refrigerator and freezer doors come off. The fee list applies only to residents whose recycling is not collected by the Streets Division (buildings on dumpsters, private drives):

• $35: refrigerators over 50 pounds, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers, stoves and ranges, water heaters, water softeners, furnaces, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, hot tubs.
• $15: microwaves, dorm fridges under 50 pounds, gas grills, lawn mowers, snow throwers, garden tillers.

Those residents buy a fee sticker online or at the Streets East or West office before a drop-off; site attendants cannot take payment. See who pays Madison's large item fees.

Elsewhere in Dane County

• Dane County Clean Sweep, 7020 Maahic Way: $35 per refrigerant appliance (doors removed), $10 per microwave.
• The Dane County Landfill takes stoves, washers, dishwashers and dryers for metal recycling but refuses freon appliances.
• Sun Prairie's Recycle Center takes non-refrigerant appliances with a city permit; Verona's Public Works site takes appliances.
• Fitchburg (Pellitteri, 2025): $66 for a fridge, freezer, AC or dehumidifier, $56 for a washer, dryer, stove or water heater.

More in getting rid of a refrigerator in Madison.