Sperrmüll in Munich: One Free Pickup a Year, and the Fee Structure If You Need More
Munich's waste authority, AWM (Abfallwirtschaftsbetrieb München), gives every household one free bulky waste pickup a year, old furniture, mattresses, baby equipment you've outgrown, and similar large items, registered online or by phone. Beyond that free pickup, standard paid collection costs a 50 euro travel flat fee plus 20 euros per started cubic meter of waste, so the amount genuinely scales with how much you're getting rid of. Standard requests currently run 1 to 2 weeks from booking to pickup, though you can also request a specific preferred date instead. You'll get a call about 3 days before your actual pickup, typically between 1 and 3pm, confirming the exact date, and the collection itself happens curbside, Monday through Friday between 7:30am and 2pm, you just need your items visibly placed out by then. Cancel by email at least by noon the day before, or a 50 euro no-show fee applies.
The Official Rule
Munich’s municipal waste authority, AWM (Abfallwirtschaftsbetrieb München), gives every household one genuinely free Sperrmüll (bulky waste) pickup per year. This covers the kind of large household items that don’t fit into your regular waste or recycling bins: furniture, mattresses, and similar bulky pieces, baby equipment you’ve outgrown included. You register this free pickup either online through AWM’s request forms or by phone.
Beyond that single free pickup, additional collections are paid, and the fee structure genuinely scales with volume rather than being a flat rate. A standard paid Sperrmüllabholung costs a 50 euro flat travel fee, plus 20 euros for every started cubic meter of waste being collected. This means a small additional pickup costs meaningfully less than clearing out a full room’s worth of furniture, and it’s worth estimating your volume honestly before booking so the cost isn’t a surprise.
| Free pickup | Additional paid pickup | |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Once per household per year | As needed |
| Cost | Free | 50 EUR flat fee + 20 EUR per started cubic meter |
| How to book | Online or by phone | Online or by phone |
Booking has two speeds. The standard request currently runs about 1 to 2 weeks from when you submit it to when your items actually get collected. If timing matters more to you than flexibility, you can instead request a specific preferred date (Wunschtermin) through AWM’s email-based booking forms. Either way, you’ll receive a phone call roughly 3 days before your actual pickup, typically between 1pm and 3pm, confirming the exact date your collection will happen, this is your real notice, not the date you originally requested.
The pickup itself happens curbside, directly in front of your building. You need to have your items placed visibly at the curb by the start of the collection window, and collection runs Monday through Friday, from 7:30am to 2pm. You don’t need to be present or hand anything to anyone directly, the crew collects what’s been set out during that window.
If your plans change, cancel properly rather than letting the appointment lapse. You need to cancel by email (to AWM’s Sperrmüll address) by noon the day before your scheduled pickup. Missing that window and causing a wasted trip triggers a 50 euro no-show fee, regardless of whether the original booking was your free annual pickup or a paid one.
What Real People Say
The detail that catches people off guard most often is the gap between the date you originally book and the date you’re actually told to expect pickup, since the confirmation call typically comes only a few days beforehand rather than at the time of booking. Families who’ve been through the process describe treating the initial online or phone request as step one of two, not the final confirmation, and waiting for that follow-up call before making firm plans around the exact pickup day.
On cost, the practical tip that comes up repeatedly is to genuinely consolidate a bulky-waste clearout into one well-planned pickup rather than several smaller paid ones, given how the per-cubic-meter fee structure rewards volume efficiency, and to use the single free annual pickup deliberately for whichever clearout is actually the largest rather than a smaller one that happens to come up first.
Step by Step
- Check whether you’ve already used this year’s free pickup, if not, that’s the one to use for your current need.
- Estimate your volume honestly before booking a paid pickup, since the fee scales per cubic meter, consolidating into one larger pickup is usually more cost-effective than several small ones.
- Register online through AWM’s request forms, or by phone, choosing either the standard timeline (1 to 2 weeks) or a specific Wunschtermin if timing matters more to you.
- Wait for the confirmation call roughly 3 days before pickup, this is when you learn your actual, confirmed collection date and time window.
- Have your items visibly placed at the curb by 7:30am on the confirmed date, collection runs until 2pm, Monday through Friday.
- If you need to cancel, email AWM by noon the day before, missing this triggers a 50 euro no-show fee.
Compliance Note
This page explains the general framework for Sperrmüll pickup through AWM, but specific fees, timelines, and accepted item categories can change over time. For anything specific to your situation, confirm current details directly with AWM.
FAQ & Common Pitfalls
Does the free annual pickup cover everything, or only certain items?
The free pickup is specifically for genuine Sperrmüll, bulky household items like furniture, mattresses, and similar large objects that don't fit in regular waste bins. It's worth checking AWM's specific item guidance before your pickup if you're unsure whether something qualifies, rather than assuming everything large automatically counts, since some categories of waste (electronics, hazardous materials, construction debris) are handled through entirely separate disposal channels.
We need more than our one free pickup this year, is the paid option worth it?
It depends entirely on volume. The paid structure, a 50 euro flat travel fee plus 20 euros per started cubic meter, means a small additional pickup (a single piece of furniture, say) could cost noticeably less than a large one (clearing out an entire room), since the per-cubic-meter charge scales with what you're actually disposing of. It's worth estimating your volume honestly before booking, both to budget accurately and because the fee structure means consolidating everything into fewer, fuller pickups is usually more cost-effective than several small ones.
What happens if we're not ready when the pickup crew arrives?
You're expected to have your items visibly placed at the curb by 7:30am on your confirmed pickup date, and collection runs until 2pm across that window, so there's some flexibility within the day, but not much beyond it. If you know in advance you won't be ready, cancel by email by noon the day before rather than letting the crew make a wasted trip, since a late cancellation or no-show triggers a 50 euro fee regardless of whether you were using the free annual pickup or a paid one.