How to start a junk removal business

This guide follows a new hauler from picking a model and a truck to a licensed, insured company booking its first loads, with the rules in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York City, Los Angeles and Austin. The most useful finding: no state we checked issues a junk removal license, but hauling other people's waste is licensed in many places, so the first call is to your city and state environmental agency, not to a licensing board.

By Niomi AscotUpdated October 3, 202616 min read

Licensing: No statewide junk license found; hauler licenses in New Jersey (A-901), Pennsylvania (Act 90 trucks), NYC, Los Angeles and Austin
Truck weight lines: 10,001 lbs for federal interstate rules, over 17,000 lbs for Pennsylvania Act 90, 26,001 lbs for a CDL
Fridges and freezers: The final processor needs the refrigerant recovered, or a signed statement saying who recovered it
Median pay, 2025: $49,690 for refuse collectors and $40,240 for hand material movers (BLS via O*NET)
Franchises: The disclosure document must reach you at least 14 calendar days before you sign or pay
Google screening: Every junk removal advertiser's owner and business are background checked for Local Services Ads

What a junk removal company does, and the ways to run one

Google’s Local Services definition is short: junk removal professionals “remove and dispose or donate appliances, waste, furniture, or other items” (Google Local Services requirements). The material behind that sentence is heavy. EPA put construction and demolition debris at 600 million tons in 2018, “more than twice the amount of generated municipal solid waste” (EPA, C&D materials), and household furniture at 12.1 million tons in the same year (EPA, durable goods).

New companies usually start with one of these shapes and add the others:

Truck-and-crew residential hauling. Sofas, appliances, garage and estate cleanouts, priced by how much of the truck a load fills.
Light commercial and construction debris. Office cleanouts and contractor debris. This is the work most likely to pull you into a city hauler license, as the New York City, Los Angeles and Austin rules below show.
Dumpster or bin rental beside the truck, for customers who want to fill a container themselves.
A franchise instead of an independent start. College HUNKS, which sells moving and junk removal franchises, claims “370+ territories” and “$1.55M average gross sales per location in 2025 (per 2026 FDD)” (College HUNKS franchise site). Those are a franchisor’s marketing figures quoting its own disclosure document; the section on franchises below explains how to check them.

Pay, demand and how the industry is counted

No federal occupation is called junk hauler, so the closest Bureau of Labor Statistics figures sit under two O*NET titles. Refuse and recyclable material collectors earned a median $23.89 an hour, or $49,690 a year, in 2025, with 147,900 employed in 2024 and growth from 2024 to 2034 rated “Slower than average (1% to 2%).” The crew job, hand laborers and material movers, had a median of $19.35 an hour, or $40,240, with 2,988,900 employed and 384,300 projected openings over the decade, counting replacements. The driver who leads the crew fits light truck drivers, at $44,860 a year, where growth is projected as “Much faster than average (7% or higher).”

The Census Bureau has no junk removal code either. In County Business Patterns for 2023, “Other Waste Collection” (NAICS 562119) had 1,571 establishments with paid employees, 64.4% of them with fewer than five employees, while “Solid Waste Collection” (562111) had 10,982, mostly garbage route companies. The nonemployer file reports waste management only as a whole: 25,787 businesses with no employees. None of these is a count of junk haulers, and any market size you read elsewhere rests on an estimate.

Two published figures speak to demand. EPA estimates 11 to 13 million refrigerated household appliances reach the end of their life every year (EPA, appliance disposal). And what you pay to dump is rising: the Environmental Research and Education Foundation’s 2024 analysis of 351 landfills found a 10% increase in tipping fees, to a national average of $62.28 a ton, as reported by Waste Advantage Magazine.

Licensing: no junk license, but hauling is licensed

We found no federal license and no statewide “junk removal” license in the large states we checked. That does not mean you can start hauling anywhere. In many places the license attaches to the act of carrying someone else’s waste, to the truck’s weight or to the city where the load is picked up. The SBA puts it generally: requirements “vary based on your business activities, location, and government rules.”

Place	Agency	What you need	Key requirements, as the agency states them
New Jersey	Department of Environmental Protection	A-901 license, CPCN and NJDEP registration	For “waste generated by another person or business”; vehicles registered as commercial; decals “may take up to 8-10 weeks”
Pennsylvania	Department of Environmental Protection	Act 90 Waste Transporter Authorization	Trucks over 17,000 lbs and trailers over 10,000 lbs registered weight; $100 per truck; about 15 days for stickers
New York City	Business Integrity Commission	Trade waste license, micro-hauler license or C&D registration	Commercial waste only; micro-hauler $600 for two years plus $500 per vehicle
Los Angeles	LA Sanitation	AB 939 Compliance Permit	Fee of “10% of their gross receipts”; quarterly tonnage and financial reports
Austin	City of Austin	Private Waste Hauler License	Every hauler “operating for a fee”; $380 per vehicle hauling to landfill; expires December 31
Texas	TCEQ (scrap tires)	Scrap tire transporter registration	Manifests, an annual report and vehicle markings at least two inches tall

Fees and timelines are as of October 2026. Confirm each requirement with the issuing agency, and ask your own city and county, before you take a paid load.

New Jersey. NJDEP “requires ALL solid and medical waste transporters to register,” and those “hauling waste generated by another person or business” need an A-901 license and a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. You “cannot legally transport waste until you have received your decal(s),” and the waste types on the form include bulky waste and construction debris. The A-901 side is a background investigation: a personal history disclosure covers owners, officers, directors, key employees and partners (NJDEP, A-901 instructions). On our reading, a paid junk hauler in New Jersey is a licensed solid waste transporter before its first load; ask NJDEP about edge cases such as donation-only pickups.

Pennsylvania. Act 90 covers trucks with a registered gross weight over 17,000 pounds and trailers over 10,000 pounds carrying waste to processing or disposal sites, and “prohibits processing and disposal facilities from accepting waste” from vehicles without an authorization. A truck costs $100, a truck-tractor or trailer $50 (PA DEP, apply). The authorization is tied to the legal entity: a new entity with a different EIN needs a new one. A pickup and light trailer may sit under the thresholds; a dump truck will not.

New York City. BIC regulates “the ‘trade waste’ (or commercial waste) industry” (BIC). The Administrative Code makes it unlawful to collect trade waste “from the premises of a commercial establishment” without a license, and trade waste includes rubbish, tires and construction debris (NYC Admin. Code 16-505, unofficial mirror). BIC’s forms page lists the full license, a micro-hauler license and a Class 2 C&D registration. The full license costs $5,000 for two years plus a $600 investigation fee and $500 per vehicle, and its application asks for $2,000,000 in auto liability and $5,000,000 in general liability (BIC application). The pages we read do not say whether a purely residential cleanout needs a BIC license, so ask BIC before taking business or construction jobs.

California. State law lets each city or county decide whether hauling is done “by means of nonexclusive franchise, contract, license, permit, or otherwise,” or by an exclusive franchise (Pub. Res. Code 40059, mirror). Your first question is what your city’s franchise covers. In Los Angeles, private haulers need an AB 939 Compliance Permit and pay 10% of gross receipts, and mixed construction debris must go with a permitted hauler to a city-certified facility, with penalties of up to $5,000 “for every load not taken to certified processors” (LA Sanitation, C&D).

Texas. There is no state junk license. Austin licenses every private hauler working for a fee, even those who “haul only tree limbs and yard waste,” and asks for auto liability of $250,000 per person, $500,000 per occurrence and $100,000 property damage, or $1,000,000 combined. Statewide, scrap tire transporters “with a few exceptions, must register with the TCEQ,” haul only to authorized facilities and mark their trucks with the business name and registration number. Whether a hauler’s occasional tire fits one of the exceptions is a question for TCEQ.

Fridges, freezers and the scrap yard

A dead refrigerator is the most regulated thing you will carry. EPA puts it plainly: “The final disposer of appliances is responsible for recovering any refrigerant,” and where someone else recovers it, “EPA requires a signed statement containing the name and address of the person who recovered the refrigerant, and the date” (EPA, appliance disposal). No sticker is required.

The rule text explains what happens when you pull into the scrap yard. The final processor, a term that includes “scrap recyclers and landfill operators,” must recover the refrigerant itself or verify by signed statement or contract that it was recovered; it is a violation for the yard to accept a statement it knew or had reason to know was false; and the yard must tell suppliers before delivery that refrigerant has to be recovered (40 CFR 82.155). Expect a yard to ask for that statement or turn the load away.

You have two routes. Pay a recovery service or a technician and carry their signed statement, or recover it yourself. EPA says people recovering refrigerant from small appliances in the waste stream “are not required to be Clean Air Act section 608 certified,” but the recovery must use equipment that meets the federal standard. Either way, “Hazardous components, including PCBs, mercury, and compressor oil, must be removed from appliances before disposal,” and Section 608 prohibits intentionally venting refrigerant (EPA, Section 608).

Electronics, mattresses and what you refuse

Electronics. The Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse counts “25 states with e-waste laws (plus the District of Columbia)” (ERCC). Its landfill ban table marks bans in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and others, and none in states such as Maryland and Michigan. In a ban state, televisions and computers need an e-waste recycler rather than the landfill load. Check your own state’s entry before you set a price.

Mattresses. The Mattress Recycling Council, formed by the mattress industry, runs statewide programs in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. CalRecycle oversees California’s program for used mattresses, box springs and futons. In those four states, program collection sites are worth finding before your first mattress job.

Household hazardous waste. EPA lists “paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides” as products that “require special care when you dispose of them” (EPA, HHW). From what we see, most haulers exclude these, and a written list of what you will not take saves an argument in the driveway.

Trucks: the weight lines that decide your paperwork

The truck you buy decides more of your compliance than anything else. These are the lines:

10,001 pounds. A vehicle or combination rated at 10,001 pounds or more is a commercial motor vehicle when used in interstate commerce (49 CFR 390.5). A pickup towing a loaded dump trailer can cross it. Interstate carriers register for a USDOT number and may not operate or mark a truck with it until the agency confirms it is active (49 CFR 390.201). Their drivers need a medical certificate (49 CFR 391.41).
Over 17,000 pounds registered. Pennsylvania’s Act 90 authorization, described above.
Over 26,000 pounds. Texas requires motor carrier registration for a commercial motor vehicle (Tex. Transp. Code 643.051), defined as a vehicle over 26,000 pounds (Tex. Transp. Code 548.001), and the TxDMV application needs “A valid USDOT number” (43 TAC 218.13).
26,001 pounds. A CDL is required for a heavy straight truck of 26,001 pounds or more, or a heavy combination towing over 10,000 pounds (49 CFR 383.5). CDL drivers bring drug and alcohol testing, and an owner who is the only driver must still join a random testing pool of two or more (49 CFR 382.103).

Federal rules also require cargo secured “to prevent the cargo from leaking, spilling, blowing or falling” (49 CFR 393.100). In our experience a tarp or net on every load is cheaper than one citation. Many owners pick a box or dump truck rated under 26,001 pounds so any licensed driver can take it out.

Buying a franchise: what the FTC gives you

If you are weighing a franchise, federal law hands you a document worth reading line by line. The FTC Franchise Rule requires a disclosure document with 23 specific items, and a franchisor must give it to you “at least 14 calendar-days before” you sign a binding agreement or pay anything, with seven calendar days to review any changed terms (16 CFR 436.2).

Two items matter most. Item 7, “YOUR ESTIMATED INITIAL INVESTMENT,” is the only startup cost in this trade that comes with a disclosed method. Item 19, financial performance, is optional, but any earnings claim needs “a reasonable basis and written substantiation” and must appear in Item 19 (16 CFR 436.5). If a salesperson quotes average sales that are not in Item 19, ask why.

Setting up the company

Entity first. The SBA notes that an LLC keeps personal assets out of reach “in most instances.” Form it before applying for hauler permits, since Pennsylvania ties authorizations to the entity’s EIN, then get the EIN from the IRS at no charge.

Insurance. The SBA lists general, professional and property coverage, and Google asks junk removal advertisers for general and professional liability. For a hauler, commercial auto is the policy that matters most in practice, and city minimums can sit well above what an agent first quotes, as Austin’s and New York City’s do.

Workers’ compensation. California requires it “even if they have only one employee” (California DIR). Florida requires it at four employees outside construction but at one inside it (Fla. Stat. 440.02), so a Florida hauler doing demolition debris should ask which applies. Texas “doesn’t require most private employers” to carry it (TDI).

Helpers. Paying day helpers cash per job is common and risky. The IRS says that treating an employee as a contractor without a reasonable basis can make you liable for the employment taxes.

Truck gear, a yard and software

This is practice rather than regulation. Beyond the truck, budget for dollies, straps, moving blankets, tarps and nets, a ramp, demolition hand tools and a reciprocating saw for breaking down furniture, sheds and hot tubs.

The less visible asset is your disposal network: a commercial account at the landfill or transfer station, a scrap yard that takes appliances, two or three donation partners, an e-waste recycler if your state bans electronics from landfills, and mattress program sites in the four program states. Austin issues two decals per licensed vehicle for the doors, and Los Angeles and Austin both expect reporting, so keep a load log from the first week.

For software, pick booking that accepts photos so you can estimate before arriving, plus scheduling, invoicing and review requests. Check where you can legally park the truck overnight; many cities restrict commercial vehicles on residential streets.

Pricing and disposal costs

Most haulers price by the share of a truckload, with a minimum charge and surcharges for items that cost more to get rid of: mattresses, tires, refrigerant appliances and, in ban states, electronics. Photo estimates before arrival cut disputes. No neutral source with a stated method publishes junk removal prices, so we do not print a range.

Disposal is the cost that moves. Start from the posted rates at your nearest transfer station, keep the $62.28 national average tipping fee from EREF’s 2024 report as a reference point, and in Los Angeles add the 10% city fee on receipts. For startup costs, the SBA’s budget categories and local quotes for the truck and insurance are a better guide than any published average.

Hiring and safety

Crew jobs need little formal schooling: O*NET rates hand material movers at Job Zone 1 to 2, and 81% of respondents for refuse collectors said a high school diploma is required. The risk is the body. OSHA names “lifting heavy items, bending, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads” as risk factors that raise the chance of musculoskeletal injury (OSHA, ergonomics). Two-person lifts, dollies and a rule for stairs are the practical answers.

Protective equipment must be provided and kept in good condition “wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards” (29 CFR 1910.132). Cleanouts turn up broken glass, needles, mold and unlabeled chemicals, so gloves, eye protection and boots are standard issue.

Background checks come with the trade. New Jersey’s A-901 process investigates owners and key employees, and Google’s Local Services screening for junk removal lists the business check and owner check for every advertiser, not only selected ones. Those checks cover identity and criminal history and involve no credit pull (Google, screening).

Finding the first customers

Google Business Profile. Run it as a service-area business from where the trucks actually start. Google says such businesses “can’t list a ‘virtual’ office unless that office is staffed during business hours” (Google guidelines) and keeps the area to about two hours of driving (Google, service areas).

Local Services Ads. The category is Junk removal services, with the Google Verified badge. Google requires the business and owner checks, general and professional liability insurance and a state license where local law requires one, and screening averages 3 to 4 weeks. Google began moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads in August 2026; junk removal was not in the first phase, and Google says remaining categories move in later waves (Google Ads help).

Reviews and lead sites. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 74% of consumers only care about reviews from the last three months. Ask after every load, and never pay for or filter reviews by sentiment, which the FTC’s 2024 rule bans. Thumbtack lets customers sort junk removal pros by “Fastest response,” so reply speed is a ranking lever there.

Partners. Real estate agents, property managers, estate attorneys, senior move managers, remodelers and self-storage facilities with abandoned units all produce cleanouts.

How we plan a hauler’s marketing is on our page for junk removal companies. For the profile and map work, see local SEO and reviews.

What trips up new haulers

Dumping before checking the permit. Pennsylvania facilities must refuse unauthorized heavy trucks, and Los Angeles fines up to $5,000 per construction load taken to the wrong place.
A fridge with no paperwork. Scrap yards need the refrigerant recovered or a signed statement.
Underpricing disposal. Tipping fees rose 10% in EREF’s 2024 data, and special items cost more.
Buying more truck than the work needs. Above 26,000 pounds come the CDL, random drug testing and, in Texas, state registration.
Slow replies. Customers send the same photo to several haulers, and platforms rank by speed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a license to start a junk removal business?

There is no junk removal license as such, but hauling often is licensed. New Jersey requires an A-901 license and NJDEP registration, Pennsylvania requires Act 90 authorization for heavy trucks, New York City licenses commercial waste haulers, and Los Angeles and Austin license private haulers. Start with your city.

Do I need a CDL to haul junk?

Only for a truck rated at 26,001 pounds or more, or a heavy combination towing over 10,000 pounds. CDL drivers must be in a random drug and alcohol testing program, even an owner who drives alone.

When do I need a USDOT number?

For interstate trips in a vehicle or combination of 10,001 pounds or more, and in Texas for any carrier registering with TxDMV, which applies to vehicles over 26,000 pounds.

Can I take old refrigerators and window air conditioners?

Yes, if the refrigerant is recovered with compliant equipment before final disposal and the scrap yard or landfill gets a signed statement with the recoverer’s name, address and date.

Can televisions and computers go in the landfill load?

Not in states with electronics landfill bans, which include California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Check your own state’s entry on the ERCC table.

What insurance does a junk removal company need?

General and professional liability for Local Services Ads, commercial auto in practice, any city minimums such as Austin’s, and workers’ compensation where your state requires it: from one employee in California, at four in Florida outside construction.

Should I buy a junk removal franchise?

Read the disclosure document first; it must reach you at least 14 calendar days before you sign or pay. Item 7 estimates the initial investment, and any earnings claim must be in Item 19 with written substantiation.

How long until Google sends paid leads?

Allow about a month. Local Services screening, including the owner background check, averages 3 to 4 weeks, so file it in the same week you register the business.

Sources

Checked on October 3, 2026. Rules and fees change, and many are set state by state or city by city: confirm the current requirements with the agency that issues them before you apply.

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