Garbage and recycling pick-up

The Town has approved a contract with Town & Country / Peterson Sanitation for garbage and recycle pick-up service for residential dwelling units in the Town. Since the approval of the contract, the company has been sold to Republic Services.

On the evening of Friday, January 30, 2026, Republic Services (also known locally as Peterson Sanitation/Town and Country) experienced a fire at its transfer station located in the Village of Prairie du Sac.

Because drivers will now need to travel farther to unload once their trucks are full, collection may take longer than usual and, in some cases, may extend into the following day. Residents are asked to:

Place garbage and recycling totes at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on your assigned collection day.
Leave totes out if they are not emptied on the scheduled day, as collection may occur later or the next day.

If you have any questions regarding pick-up schedule, delays in pick-up, toters, etc, call the Prairie du Sac office at (608) 524 -6603

2026 Pick up Schedule:

The following is the schedule for the majority of the households in the Town:

(Click on the following link for a printable schedule: 2026-Township-of-Prairie-du-Sac _ Garbage and Recycle pick up schedule )

Certain weeks may have delayed pick-ups for recycle or garbage. Click on the following note from Petersons:

Along with Holidays, other events such as snowstorms or extreme cold, might delay pick-up by a day.

If you have any questions, call the Prairie du Sac Scale location at (608) 524 – 6603

To help prevent loose items from blowing away, we suggest bagging items and placing the bag items in the toters.

Bagging notes: When bagging, recycle items should be placed in a clear plastic bag prior to putting it in the recycle toter (yellow lid).

Items in non-clear plastic bags are treated as garbage and should be placed in the garbage toter (black lid).

Recycles

Recycles: please place recycles in clear plastic bags and then place the clear bags in the recycle toter (yellow lid). Lids must be closed.

Acceptable recycles

Plastic- no. 1 thru 7 – rinsed, caps off.
Glass. Jars and bottles of any color -rinsed, caps off.
Aluminum/tin – rinsed.
Newspapers, shiny inserts, magazines and phone books. May be bundled or bagged in clear plastic bags and placed in toter.
Cardboard – broken down and flattened into 2 feet by 2 feet pieces (or smaller). These may be bundled or placed in clear plastic bags and placed in toter.
Shredded paper needs to be placed in clear plastic bags prior to putting in toter.

*Unacceptable Recycles: Food waste; paper plates; ceramics and dishware; broken glass, windows and mirrors; styrofoam, packing peanuts or bubble wrap; medical waste; yard waste; oils; batteries; electronics; construction material; anything placed in a solid-colored bag (a bag that is not clear/see through).

Garbage

Garbage: please bag and then put bags in the garbage toter (black lid). Lids must be closed.

*Unacceptable garbage/refuse: Yard waste; construction material; hazardous waste; medical waste, electronics; appliances; items too large to fit into the container.

Toter Placement

Make sure the arrows on the lids are pointing out towards the road.
Toters need to be at least three (3) feet from any fixed objects such as trees, streetlights, building or parked vehicles, and with a 2-3 foot gap between toters.
Toters should be six (6) or more feet from your mailbox.
If possible, place the toter near the end of your driveway.
The front edge of the toter should be one (1) foot from the edge of the road shoulder. If you live on a road that has large truck or farm equipment traffic, the front edge of the toter should be placed two (2) feet (possibly more?^) from the shoulder of road.^
- Toters should not block traffic, traffic views, drainageways, or the view of your fire number.
Position the toter on as level of a surface as possible.
Toters should not be placed on snowbanks.

(^If you have any questions regarding safe toter placement, please contact Town and Country / Peterson Sanitation at (608) 524-6603 or 1 (800) 626 – 1915 to arrange for suitable toter placement location.)

Lids need to be closed.
On the day of collection, toters need to be placed out by 6:00 am.
- Do not set out more than 24-hours before day of collection.
Toters need to be returned to storage location within 24-hours of your collection day.
- Toters should not be stored in the road right of way (33 feet from the center of the road).

Common Reasons for Missed Collections

Toter is not placed following the above guidelines.
Toter is placed out after the designated collection time.
Trash OR Recycles are outside of the cart.
The toter is overfilled (lids need to be closed to a substantial degree).
Toter is placed on a snowbank.
Contains unacceptable items (as listed above).

For more general information go to the Town and Country website at: https://www.townandcountrysanitation.com/

For more information regarding the Town of Prairie du Sac garbage and recycle pick-up, click here: https://www.townandcountrysanitation.com/township/prairie-du-sac-wi

*Other Disposal, Recycle and Composting Information

Peterson Sanitation continues to pick-up large items for an additional fee. The Prairie du Sac Scale location is now open for those that wish to take items in. Please call for drop off or pick-up times, fees and restrictions. The phone number for the Prairie du Sac office is (608) 524 – 6603.

Some area retailers might recycle electronics or haul away appliances (fees may apply). Check the following websites for more information: Best Buy , Call2recycle Partners near the Town of Prairie du Sac , Staples , Walmart

Other area programs might take gently used household items. Check the following websites for more information: Habitat Restores , Sauk Prairie/Roxbury St Vincent du Paul

Diehl and Neumeier in DeForest might be able to help with scrap metal recycling. Visit their website and/or call for more information

Gauger & Son Salvage Inc in Arena offers a variety of salvage and recycling services. Visit their website and/ or call (608) 753-2656 for more information.

For information regarding these and other hazardous waste material or electronics disposal options, click here: Clean Sweep and Alternative Disposal Information.

Are you a producer of agriculture commodities? Click here for Agriculture Plastic recycling information: Agriculture Plastic Recycling

Composting not only keeps some yard and food waste out of the landfills, it is a great way to improve the health of soil. Some yard and food waste may be composted. More information regarding composting can be found at these links:

Composting in Wisconsin , Benefits of Composting , How to Compost

To see if Sauk County has compost bins available for sale, click here: Sauk County Compost Bins for Sale

More composting and recycle information: WI Composting Information WI Electronics Recycling Information WI Recycling Information

The following letter was sent to residents in August of 2022: LettertoResidents_Aug_2022 .

Read the 2022 FAQs here: GarbageandRecyclingToterFAQ , FAQ_part2