JunkSpots

How to get rid of stuff in São Paulo

São Paulo collects bulky things from the kerb for free, but on a fixed route rather than by appointment, so the date is decided for you and the window is narrow. What the kerbside truck takes and what an ecoponto takes are close to opposites, and getting that pair the wrong way round is the most common wasted trip in the city.

Options
5
Free
4
Last checked
Written by
André Ribeirinho

In short

If you only read one thing on this page.

Costs nothing

Ecopontos de São Paulo

129 municipal drop-off yards taking up to one cubic metre of loose rubble per person per day, plus furniture, mattresses, garden prunings and recyclables. They refuse electronics and appliances outright.

Free

If you can't move it

Operação Cata-Bagulho

A free kerbside collection on a fixed published route rather than by appointment. It takes old furniture, mattresses, sofas, broken appliances, garden prunings and bagged rubble, up to fifteen 50-litre sacks.

They collect

Without booking

Coopermiti: Pontos de Entrega Voluntária

The electronics route the municipal services refuse. A cooperative accredited by the city, running a dozen-plus voluntary drop-off points for e-waste.

No appointment

Back into use

Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações

Free home collection of things still worth using, furniture in good condition, clothes, working appliances, books and toys. They ask for photographs of furniture by WhatsApp before agreeing to come.

Reused, not processed

From the editor

The thing to understand about São Paulo is that its two free services divide the work almost exactly opposite to how people assume. Cata-Bagulho, the kerbside route, takes the old furniture, the mattress, the sofa and the broken appliance, plus bagged rubble up to fifteen sacks. The ecopontos take loose rubble by the cubic metre and refuse electronics and appliances outright. So the fridge goes to the kerb and the rubble goes to the yard, and getting that pair the wrong way round is the most common wasted trip in the city. It is on the city's own acceptance matrix, and it still surprises people. Cata-Bagulho is also a route rather than a booking: you look your address up, you do not call. Put the material out on your own frontage before 8am on the day, never the night before, and never in front of a neighbour's building. Electronics go to neither service. Coopermiti, a cooperative accredited by the city, runs the drop-off network for them. And if you hire a caçamba, ask for the CTR-E, because an unregistered skip leaves the fine with you rather than with the company.

André Ribeirinho Editor, JunkSpots São Paulo Updated 19 August 2026

What residents need to know

Two free municipal services do most of the work, and they divide the job in a way that catches people out. Operação Cata-Bagulho is a scheduled kerbside route: you look your address up rather than booking, and it takes old furniture, mattresses, sofas and broken appliances. The 129 ecopontos are drop-off yards taking up to a cubic metre of loose rubble a day, and they refuse electronics and appliances outright. So the appliance goes to the kerb and the rubble goes to the yard, which is the reverse of what most people assume.

Where things go in São Paulo

Every option in this guide, arranged by the thing you are getting rid of. A missing name is not a refusal. It means nobody has told us either way, which is worth asking about before you make the trip.

Item Option Run by How you use it Cost Booking
furniture Operação Cata-Bagulho Municipal Pickup Free Not needed
Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
Ecopontos de São Paulo Municipal Drop-off Free Not needed
Transportadoras cadastradas na SP Regula Private Pickup Paid By appointment
appliances Operação Cata-Bagulho Municipal Pickup Free Not needed
Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
Coopermiti: Pontos de Entrega Voluntária Nonprofit Drop-off Free Not needed
construction waste Operação Cata-Bagulho Municipal Pickup Free Not needed
Ecopontos de São Paulo Municipal Drop-off Free Not needed
Transportadoras cadastradas na SP Regula Private Pickup Paid By appointment
building materials Ecopontos de São Paulo Municipal Drop-off Free Not needed
Transportadoras cadastradas na SP Regula Private Pickup Paid By appointment
electronics Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
Coopermiti: Pontos de Entrega Voluntária Nonprofit Drop-off Free Not needed
garden waste Operação Cata-Bagulho Municipal Pickup Free Not needed
Ecopontos de São Paulo Municipal Drop-off Free Not needed
mattresses Operação Cata-Bagulho Municipal Pickup Free Not needed
Ecopontos de São Paulo Municipal Drop-off Free Not needed
batteries Coopermiti: Pontos de Entrega Voluntária Nonprofit Drop-off Free Not needed
books Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
clothes Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
textiles Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
toys Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit Pickup, Drop-off Free By appointment
bicycles Nothing we have listed takes this yet.
hazardous waste Nothing we have listed takes this yet.
paint Nothing we have listed takes this yet.
tyres Nothing we have listed takes this yet.

Furniture

4 options · 3 free · 1 paid

The kerbside route takes furniture, and so does the ecoponto. Anything still in good condition is worth offering to a charity collection first, the Salvation Army will come to you, free, if you send photos ahead.

Free, they collect 2
Free, you take it there 1

  • Recycling

    Ecopontos de São Paulo

    Prefeitura de São Paulo · São Paulo

    Takes
    furniture, mattresses, construction waste, building materials, and 2 more
    View → Checked 18 Aug 2026
Paid 1

  • Removal

    Transportadoras cadastradas na SP Regula

    Private hauliers registered with SP Regula

    Takes
    furniture, construction waste, building materials, other items
    Won’t take
    By appointment only
    Cost
    On quote
    Where
    São Paulo
    Booking
    By appointment
    View → Checked 18 Aug 2026

Mattresses

2 options · 2 free · none paid

Mattresses and sofas go out on the Cata-Bagulho route, or to an ecoponto. There is no separate mattress scheme here and no fee either way.

Free, they collect 1

  • Municipal

    Operação Cata-Bagulho

    Prefeitura de São Paulo: Secretaria Municipal das Subprefeituras · São Paulo

    Takes
    furniture, mattresses, appliances, garden waste, and 2 more
    View → Checked 18 Aug 2026
Free, you take it there 1

  • Recycling

    Ecopontos de São Paulo

    Prefeitura de São Paulo · São Paulo

    Takes
    furniture, mattresses, construction waste, building materials, and 2 more
    View → Checked 18 Aug 2026

Appliances

3 options · 3 free · none paid

Broken appliances go to the KERB, not to an ecoponto, the yards refuse them outright, which is the reverse of what most people expect. Anything still working is worth donating instead.

Free, they collect 2
Free, you take it there 1

Electronics

2 options · 2 free · none paid

Neither free municipal service takes electronics. Coopermiti, a cooperative accredited by the city, runs the voluntary drop-off network that does, with anything over 70 × 70 cm, CRT televisions and batteries needing to be arranged with them directly.

Free, they collect 1
Free, you take it there 1

Clothing & textiles

1 option · 1 free · none paid

Clothing is a donation question here rather than a municipal one. The Salvation Army collects free, and its drop-boxes take clothes, shoes and small items through a 70 × 40 cm aperture.

Free, they collect 1

The words São Paulo uses

These are the terms on the city's own pages. They stay in the local language here for the same reason they do on a form: the English version will not get you to the right page.

Cata-Bagulho
The city's own name for its free bulky-waste kerbside collection. Operação Cata-Bagulho runs a published route rather than taking bookings.
Ecoponto
A municipal drop-off yard. Unlike Rio, where the equivalent is a Posto de Entrega Voluntária and 'ecoponto' finds nothing. This IS São Paulo's word, and there are 129 of them.
entulho
Construction rubble. Bagged at the kerb (15 sacks of 50 litres maximum), or loose at an ecoponto up to one cubic metre per person per day.
caçamba
A skip. The company placing it must be registered with SP Regula.
CTR-E
Controle de Transporte de Resíduos Eletrônico, the electronic waste transport docket a registered hauler issues. Ask for it: without one the fine falls on the resident.
SP Regula
The municipal regulator that registers private waste transporters. It superseded AMLURB, so older guidance naming AMLURB is out of date.
PEV
Ponto de Entrega Voluntária, a voluntary drop-off point. Coopermiti runs the electronics network.

Things that catch people out

  • Cata-Bagulho is a scheduled route, not an appointment. Look your address up at coleta.prefeitura.sp.gov.br rather than calling to book.
  • Put the material out on the pavement in front of your own building before 8am on the collection day. The city says explicitly that leaving it out the night before is not permitted, and not in front of a neighbour's property either.
  • The kerbside route takes old furniture, mattresses, sofas and broken appliances, and bagged rubble only, up to fifteen 50-litre sacks.
  • An ecoponto is the opposite: loose rubble up to one cubic metre per person per day, and it refuses electronics and appliances outright. That refusal is the single most surprising thing on the city's own acceptance matrix.
  • Asbestos sheeting, plasterboard and household organic waste go through neither service.
  • Ecopontos open Monday to Saturday 6am–10pm, and Sundays and holidays 6am–6pm.
  • Electronics go to Coopermiti's voluntary drop-off points instead. Anything over 70 × 70 cm, plus CRT televisions and batteries, needs arranging with them first rather than being left in a public bin.
  • Hiring a caçamba? Ask for the CTR-E. Every private waste company operating here must register with SP Regula, and an unregistered skip leaves you holding the fine, not them.

How to book Operação Cata-Bagulho

In order. The sequence is the content, several of these fail if you do them the other way round.

  1. Look your address up at coleta.prefeitura.sp.gov.br. This is a scheduled route, so there is nothing to book.
  2. Put the material on the pavement in front of your own building, never in front of a neighbour's.
  3. Do it before 8am on the collection day. Leaving it out the night before is not permitted.
  4. Bag any rubble, up to fifteen 50-litre sacks. Loose rubble goes to an ecoponto instead.
Phone 156 Book it Full details

What it costs in São Paulo

What each option charges, in its own words, with the date we last read it. We publish no price of our own: a number we typed would go stale before the sentence it came from did.

Option Cost Checked
Operação Cata-Bagulho Municipal · Pickup · Free Free Free for São Paulo residents.
Exército de Salvação: retirada de doações Nonprofit · Pickup · Drop-off · Free · Booking needed Free Free, the collection is a free service.
Coopermiti: Pontos de Entrega Voluntária Nonprofit · Drop-off · Free Free
Ecopontos de São Paulo Municipal · Drop-off · Free Free Free, up to one cubic metre per person per day.
Transportadoras cadastradas na SP Regula Private · Pickup · Paid · Booking needed On quote Priced by the operator; the city publishes no rates.

Check who is carrying it away

The risk nobody mentions

Once someone drives away with your things, what happens next is on their word. These are the questions that get an answer worth having, and they work whatever the rules are where you live.

Ask where it goes

Not “we recycle”, the name of the place. A company that sorts for reuse can tell you who receives it.

Ask for it in writing

A message you can keep is worth more than an assurance on the doorstep, and costs an honest operator nothing.

What we cannot check

Licensing works differently in every country and we hold no licence data, so we never call a listed option licensed.

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This guide was last updated on 19 August 2026 and the options in it were last checked on 18 August 2026. Nothing on this page is paid placement, and there is no way to buy one. Found something out of date? Tell us . It takes a minute and it is the fastest way this gets better.