On a normal week in North Hill, the black containers go out on Friday morning. Every other Friday, the recycling goes out with them. The North Holly Metro District's website spells this out for the 362 Toll Brothers homes west of Holly Street and south of East 144th Avenue. It says the City of Thornton handles weekly trash on Fridays and recycling every other Friday.
Friday is a fine trash day most of the year. From now through the first week of January, it's the one day Thornton's holiday calendar keeps moving. Thanksgiving pushes Friday pickups back a day. Christmas Day and New Year's Day both fall on Fridays this year. Several of the city's special collection windows also run only on "your regular trash day." For North Hill, those windows come down to one or two specific dates. Here's how the weeks play out from mid-November on.
Friday is the route that takes every hit
The city's November–December 2026 City Voice lists three collection delays this season. Each one lands on a Friday route.
| Week | Normal North Hill pickup | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Veterans Day week | Friday, Nov. 13 | Friday, Nov. 13, no delay |
| Thanksgiving week | Friday, Nov. 27 | Saturday, Nov. 28 |
| Christmas week | Friday, Dec. 25 | One-day delay, to Saturday, Dec. 26 |
| New Year's week | Friday, Jan. 1, 2027 | One-day delay, to Saturday, Jan. 2 |
Veterans Day doesn't change anything. The city says there's no delay the week of Nov. 11 and asks for containers at the curb by 7 a.m. on your regular day. The three weeks after that are the ones to put on the fridge.
Recycling still runs every other Friday, and it moves with the trash on delay weeks. If you aren't sure which Fridays are recycling Fridays on your street, the city's Trash & Recycling page has address-specific calendars you can print or add to Google, iCal or Outlook. The City of Thornton Recycles app has the same schedule.
Two Fridays left for bagged leaves
Leaf season is the first window to shrink. City trash customers can set bagged leaves at the curb on their regular pickup day through Nov. 20. In North Hill, that means two chances, Friday, Nov. 13 and Friday, Nov. 20.
The city asks you to fill your black trash container first. Bags that have trash or other debris mixed in won't be picked up.
If the backyard still has more leaves than two Fridays can handle, there's a Saturday option. On Saturday, Nov. 14, from 8 a.m. to noon, residents can drop leaves in the compost bin at the Infrastructure Maintenance Center, 12450 Washington St. Bring proof of residency, and plan to empty your plastic bags on site. On weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the center also takes grass clippings, leaves and other organic material. Use the north entrance at 126th Avenue and Ogden Street.
Thanksgiving week: a Saturday pickup and a Thursday workout
Thanksgiving is on Thursday, Nov. 26. City collection runs one day late on Nov. 26 and 27. Thursday routes move to Friday, and Friday routes like North Hill's move to Saturday, Nov. 28.
That extra day helps if the kitchen fills the bin on Thursday night. It also means the cans sit out a day longer on a holiday weekend, when cars are lining the streets.
Thanksgiving morning has something to do just up Holly Street. Trail Winds Recreation Center, 13495 Holly St., is hosting Burn B4 Bird from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26. It's a free large-group fitness event with several instructors and formats. Bring a can of food to donate to a local food bank, and register ahead at goCOT.net/fit.
Trail Winds is also the closest drop-off point for the Mayor's Food and Sock Drive, which runs Nov. 1 to 30. The drive collects non-perishable holiday food and new socks for local food banks and for people experiencing homelessness. Donations go in during regular business hours. Thornton Fire Station #5 at 14051 Colorado Blvd. is another drop-off site on the north side of the city.
Christmas through Jan. 9: the windows narrow
This is where the Friday route makes the biggest difference. Thornton's two curbside holiday programs both run on "your trash day," and North Hill's trash day falls on a holiday twice in two weeks.
Here's the order of events:
- Friday, Dec. 25. Christmas Day pushes collection back one day, so North Hill's pickup moves to Saturday, Dec. 26.
- Dec. 26 to 31. During the Special Christmas Wrap Collection, you can set flattened holiday boxes and bagged wrapping paper at the curb on your trash day. Fill the black containers first. The only North Hill pickup inside that window is the delayed Saturday, Dec. 26 run, so break the boxes down on Christmas night.
- Friday, Jan. 1, 2027. New Year's Day brings another one-day delay, which puts North Hill's pickup on Saturday, Jan. 2.
- Dec. 28 to Jan. 8. City customers can put natural Christmas trees at the curb on their regular collection day. Take off every ornament and light, and don't wrap the tree in plastic. North Hill's dates in this window are the delayed Jan. 2 pickup and Friday, Jan. 8.
- Saturday, Jan. 9, 8 a.m. to noon. If the tree misses both curb days, you can drop it off for recycling at the Infrastructure Maintenance Center, 12450 Washington St. Proof of residency is required.
On a midweek route, the wrapping paper window would cover a regular pickup day without any delay mixed in. In North Hill, it comes down to one Saturday, and the tree window comes down to two pickups.
Burned-out holiday light strands don't go in either can. The Infrastructure Maintenance Center accepts them on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Enter through the north gate at 126th Avenue and Ogden Street, then press the Infrastructure button on the call box at the second gate. Cooking oil from holiday frying is a different story, since the city no longer accepts it for drop-off. The City Voice sends residents to Veolia at 303-526-8155 for cooking oil and other household hazardous waste.
The line on the bill that changes in 2027
The Friday schedule goes back to normal after Jan. 8, but the trash fee changes for longer. Thornton says there are no proposed increases to trash and recycling rates. It also says trash customers will see their overall service cost go down in 2027.
The money comes from Colorado's Extended Producer Responsibility program. Under that program, the companies that make packaging and paper products pay for collecting and recycling those materials, instead of local taxpayers. Thornton plans to pass its reimbursement back to trash customers as an estimated $5 monthly bill credit.
Here's what that means on a North Hill bill. Today, Thornton's base solid waste fee is $19.25 a month, and it covers one black container with weekly trash and every-other-week recycling. Extra containers raise the fee to $24.20 for two, $37.30 for three and $50.40 for four. At the city's $5 estimate, a one-container household would pay $14.25 a month for trash service. That's roughly a quarter off the line item.
The city also figured the credit against its proposed 2027 water, sewer and stormwater rates. For customers who get all four services on one bill, it estimates the average total bill would drop about $1.84 a month in winter and rise only about 23 cents in summer.
The program side is already in place. On Oct. 22, 2026, Circular Action Alliance, the producer organization that runs Colorado's program, announced that the City of Thornton had joined. Thornton's own wording for the timing is that customers will "soon begin seeing" the credit, and $5 is the city's estimate.
The credit goes to Thornton trash customers, and North Hill is on city service. For questions about a specific bill or pickup, Thornton Environmental Services is at 720-977-6200 and [email protected]. The metro district's site still lists an older city email address, so use the ThorntonCO.gov one.
If you're hosting this season and want to know which pickup your guests' boxes will make, or you have questions about the North Hill street you're on, I'm happy to help. Jackie Roacho works with North Hill neighbors all year, not only when a sign goes in the yard. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll talk about whatever's on your list.
