How to dispose of an old refrigerator or appliance in Texas
Old appliances are heavy, awkward, and — if they ever held coolant — legally fussy in a way most junk isn't. A washer or stove is mostly just scrap steel you can hand off for free. But a refrigerator, freezer or window AC unit comes with a federal catch: the Freon has to be professionally removed before anyone will take it. Here's what your Texas city charges, the coolant rule that trips people up, and the free routes most people never hear about.
Appliance rules and costs, city by city
| City | Cost | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | Free | Large appliances accepted free at the six Neighborhood Depositories (residents, up to 4 visits/month). Anything with refrigerant must carry a certified tag showing a technician removed it. |
| Dallas | Free for residents | Accepted at McCommas Bluff for residents with proof of address — but any unit containing refrigerant must have it professionally removed first. |
| Arlington | Free (3/yr) | The Arlington Landfill takes appliances, carpet, tree limbs and more inside your three free resident drop-offs per year. |
| Denton | ~$20/item | Refrigerators, freezers and AC units — anything that contains or once contained coolant — carry a $20 per-item collection fee. Cards only, no cash. |
| Longview | ~$20/item | Collected at the curb through the city's bulky-pickup program (up to 4×/year), with a $20 fee for appliances and mattresses. |
| Victoria | Accepted | The regional site takes an unusually broad range — appliances, furniture, construction debris and electronics — where many cities refuse half that list. |
| New Braunfels | Not accepted | The city drop-off refuses appliances (along with tires, paint, batteries and electronics). Use a scrap yard, retailer haul-away or junk-removal service instead. |
Verified from official city sources, July 2026. Fees and accepted-item lists change — call the facility to confirm before you load up, especially for refrigerant units.
Find a landfill or drop-off near you
Enter your ZIP for the nearest disposal sites. Appliance fees and coolant rules vary by facility — call ahead before you haul.
The Freon rule: why a fridge is different from a couch
Refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners and dehumidifiers contain refrigerant — Freon and its modern replacements. Under federal law (the Clean Air Act, EPA Section 608), that refrigerant has to be recovered by a certified technician before the appliance is scrapped, landfilled or crushed. Letting it vent into the air is illegal, and the federal penalties run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
That's why a Texas transfer station or bulky-pickup crew will look for a tag — a small certification attached to the unit stating a qualified technician evacuated the coolant. No tag, no drop-off. It catches people off guard because a stove or washing machine has none of these rules; you can hand those off as plain scrap metal.
Getting the coolant pulled runs roughly $50–$100 if you hire an HVAC tech for just that. But you can usually avoid paying for it separately — the free options below fold it into the deal.
Free and cheap ways to skip the fee
- Retailer haul-away. When Lowe's, Best Buy or Home Depot deliver a new appliance, they'll usually haul the old one away — often free or for a small fee — and they handle the refrigerant recovery as part of it. Arrange it when you buy, not after.
- Scrap-metal yards. Washers, dryers, stoves, dishwashers and water heaters are mostly steel. Many scrap yards take them free or pay you a few dollars by weight. Fridges and freezers are accepted too, but the coolant usually has to be recovered first — some recyclers do it on site.
- Utility pickup programs. Some Texas electric utilities run appliance-recycling or energy-efficiency programs that collect a working old fridge or freezer, sometimes with a rebate. Availability comes and goes — check your provider's current offers.
- City bulky pickup. Most Texas cities collect large appliances from the curb on a schedule you already pay for. It's slow (often a set week or by appointment) but cheap. For coolant units, the crew will still want the evacuation tag.
If none of that fits your timeline — you're mid-move, mid-renovation, or clearing out several at once — a junk-removal service loads and hauls everything in one trip, refrigerant units included, and prices the whole load together.