Waste Connections Colorado Springs: Fees, Service & Review

Name: Waste Connections of Colorado
Telephone: (719) 591-5000

Waste Connections of Colorado is one of the two dominant residential trash haulers in Colorado Springs, alongside Republic Services. Since the city has no municipal trash service — every household hires its own hauler under city code §6.4.103 — there’s a decent chance a Waste Connections truck already runs your street. This is an independent profile; we’re not affiliated with Waste Connections or any hauler.

Who they are now

Waste Connections is a large, publicly traded North American waste company. Its defining local move came in December 2020, when it acquired Springs Waste Systems — at the time the last locally owned of the area’s four biggest haulers — from the Shrader family. That deal made Waste Connections the largest hauler in the Colorado Springs area, with roughly 75,000 residential customers, per the Gazette and Waste Today.

Notably, Waste Connections sat out the consolidation wave that has reshuffled nearly everyone else in recent years: Carefree Disposal and Infinite Disposal are now part of Apex Waste Solutions (Infinite sold back in 2023), HBS Trash’s residential routes went to WM in June 2026, and GFL’s Colorado business went to Republic Services in 2023. If you sign up with Waste Connections, your account is less likely to get sold to a different company mid-year — no guarantees, but around here they’ve been the buyer, not the seller.

Services and carts

The standard setup is a 96-gallon trash cart picked up weekly, with recycling every other week. If you live west of I-25, a bear-resistant cart is required.

Pricing is quote-only — call (719) 591-5000 or use the address form on their site. There are no published rates, so any dollar figure you see online for Waste Connections is an estimate until it’s on your own quote.

Billing and fees: read the whole invoice

This is the part to pay attention to. Based on documented service agreements and invoices, Waste Connections bills carry several line items beyond the base rate:

Fuel and material surcharge — floating, changes with market conditions
Environmental and regulatory charge
Administrative/invoice fee
Cart delivery fee on your first bill

These surcharges stack, and together they can run an estimated 20–35% on top of the quoted base rate — the exact amount varies by invoice. So when you get a quote, don’t ask “what’s the monthly rate?” — ask “what’s the all-in total on my first invoice, and on a normal invoice after that?”

Two more things worth knowing: the service agreement includes a binding arbitration clause, and as of mid-2026 a class action over the fuel surcharge is pending. Neither is unusual for a national hauler, but it’s part of the picture.

Service area

Waste Connections covers most of the Colorado Springs metro on both sides of I-25. Availability varies block by block in outlying areas, so the fastest check is to enter your ZIP in the comparison tool on our homepage and see who actually serves your address.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths: Scale and stability. Big fleet, city-wide routes, and lower odds of your hauler getting acquired and your service handed off — a real consideration after the past few years of acquisitions. The 96-gallon weekly cart service is the standard, no-surprises format.

Weaknesses: Price opacity. Between quote-only pricing and stacking surcharges, the real monthly cost is hard to pin down and can drift upward — a complaint pattern common to the national haulers here. For contrast, WM has folded its environmental charges into base rates since 2023, and SOCO publishes its fee schedule. Waste Connections also had a rough patch of missed-pickup complaints in 2021 during the Springs Waste integration; that was five years ago, but it’s on the record.

Who they’re a good fit for

Waste Connections makes sense if you want an established hauler with broad coverage and you’re willing to push for the all-in number before signing. If you’d rather have simple, transparent billing above all else, a local independent like SOCO — or WM’s closer-to-all-in quotes — may suit you better. Either way, compare every hauler serving your ZIP on our homepage before you call; quotes are negotiable, and knowing the alternatives is leverage.

FAQ

How much does Waste Connections cost in Colorado Springs?

There are no published rates — pricing is quote-only by address. Documented surcharges (fuel, environmental, admin) can add an estimated 20–35% to the base rate, so always ask for the all-in invoice total, not just the monthly rate.

What extra fees does Waste Connections charge?

Documented line items include a floating fuel and material surcharge, an environmental and regulatory charge, an administrative/invoice fee, and a cart delivery fee on the first bill.

Do I need a bear-resistant cart?

Yes, if you live west of I-25. Waste Connections requires bear carts there — SOCO has the same rule for its customers west of I-25.

Did Waste Connections buy Springs Waste Systems?

Yes. Waste Connections acquired Springs Waste Systems in December 2020, making it the largest hauler in the Colorado Springs area at the time.