The distinction that settles most of it
If the items are yours, you do not leave them on the street hoping someone takes them: you book a pickup with your municipality’s waste company, which in the big cities is often free within limits.
If they are not yours, there is nothing to book: it is dumping, and it should be reported.
Rome: AMA
AMA collects free from home up to 2 cubic metres per pickup, at most 12 pickups a year and no more than 2 a month, for households with the waste tariff active and paid.
Book on 060606 (Monday to Friday 8–17, Saturday 9–13), in the AMA app or with the online form; you need the customer code at the top right of your waste bill. Items go at street level inside the property, courtyard, entrance hall or garage, never next to bins. AMA’s collection centres are a free alternative.
Milan: AMSA
AMSA collects bulky items from the street free of charge within weight, quantity and size limits; pickup from your floor is paid. No piece may exceed 2.5 metres or 50 kg, and you can book once every 30 days.
Book through AMSA’s online services portal. On the day, put the items on the pavement in front of the street number in the booking, dismantled and not blocking the way, within your time slot.
Elsewhere in Italy
Almost every Italian municipality has a bulky-item service run by the local waste company: search «ritiro ingombranti» plus your town or the operator. Limits vary widely: number of pickups, volume, free or paid.
One rule holds everywhere: book before you carry anything down. Furniture left out without a booking is dumping, however firmly you meant to call.
When the items on the street are not yours
Report it to the waste company or the municipality, and if you saw who left them, to the local police: with a plate, time and place, dumping stops being a clean-up everyone pays for and becomes a fine. In Florence, for example, the operator Alia takes abandoned-waste reports through its app, Aliapp.
Then there are the spots that keep recurring: nearly always the same corner, the same bin, the same street. One report triggers one collection; a series of dated, photographed reports of the same spot is the case for a camera, a sign or a closer collection centre.
Where CleanSpot fits
On CleanSpot every report is a pin on a public map, with photo, date and coordinates. Neighbours see it, confirm it instead of duplicating it, and can offer to help. When the same corner fills up again, the history is there, visible to everyone, the council included.
Sources
Is bulky waste pickup free in Italy?
In the big cities often yes, within limits. In Rome AMA collects free up to 2 m³ per pickup, 12 times a year; in Milan AMSA collects free from the street, paid from your floor. Elsewhere it depends on the operator.
Can I leave the sofa next to the bins?
No. Without a booking it is dumping and can be fined. In Rome AMA explicitly says never to leave items beside bins.
I saw someone dump furniture. What do I do?
Note the plate, time and place, photograph it if you can do so safely, and report it to the local police. With the culprit identified, dumping becomes a fine instead of a clean-up paid by everyone.
Do appliances go with bulky waste?
Often yes, but they follow the WEEE route. Check with your operator: some collect them with bulky items, others ask you to take them to a collection centre or the shop when you buy a new one.