Trash & Recycling in Petaluma, CA (2026)
11 verified trash & recycling rules for Petaluma, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Pickup Rules & Schedules
Petaluma requires residential garbage and rubbish to be collected at least once a week, and only between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., under PMC § 8.16.320. The rule covers single-family homes as well as apartments, flats and multi-family buildings, with pickup timed so containers never sit full.
Petaluma Residential Trash Pickup Hours
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code § 8.16.320
All garbage and rubbish accumulated at any single-family private dwelling house, and at any apartment, flat or residence for more than one family shall be collected and removed at sufficiently regular intervals as shall be necessary to remove the containers thereof when full and not less than once each week, and between the hours of six a.m. and six p.m., on such dates of removal.
Bin Placement Rules
Petaluma requires garbage and rubbish receptacles to stay covered except when in use, and placed within five feet of the rear property line where there's a rear alley, or within twenty feet of the rear of the building where there isn't, during the time set for collection.
Petaluma Garbage and Recycling Container Placement
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.16.190, 8.16.200
The receptacle as required by Section 8.16.170, when containing garbage, shall at all times be kept covered, except when necessary to place garbage therein or take garbage therefrom. Each such vessel, tank, box or receptacle, including its cover, shall be kept clean from accumulating grease and decomposing material on the outside thereof. ... Each garbage and rubbish tank, vessel, box or recept...
Bulk Item Disposal
Cleanup, remodeling, and construction debris in Petaluma must go into a permitted debris box, defined in PMC § 8.16.010(E) as a container of at least ninety-seven gallons. Only haulers holding both a city business license and a non-exclusive franchise agreement under § 8.16.115 may place or collect debris boxes anywhere in the city.
Petaluma Debris Box Franchise Rules
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.16.010(E), 8.16.115(A)
"Debris box" means any container of ninety-seven gallons or greater of storage capacity utilized for the accumulation, collection and delivery to an appropriate facility by a city-permitted hauler of the following materials: 1. Materials generated by cleanup, clearing, landscaping, yard renovation, pruning, gardening and other activities related to the care and maintenance of property; and 2. M...
Recycling Requirements
Petaluma businesses and multifamily properties must subscribe to the city's three-container collection service and set up enough labeled bins for employees and customers to sort recyclables into the blue container, implementing the state's mandatory commercial recycling law. The city can require businesses to increase their service level and periodically inspects containers for contamination.
Petaluma Commercial Recycling Requirements
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.18.010(B), 8.18.050
State recycling law, Assembly Bill 341 of 2011 (approved by the Governor of the state of California on October 5, 2011) ... places requirements on businesses and multifamily property owners that generate a specified threshold amount of solid waste to arrange for recycling services and requires jurisdictions to implement a mandatory commercial recycling program. ... Generators that are commercia...
Mandatory Organics Recycling
Petaluma requires every single-family generator to subscribe to the city's organic waste collection service and sort food scraps and other green-container organic waste away from recyclables and trash, implementing the state's SB 1383 mandate locally. Green container gets food waste, blue container gets recyclables, and gray container gets everything else; mixing them into the wrong bin is itself a violation.
Petaluma Mandatory Organic Waste Rules
Significant RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.18.010(E), 8.18.040
SB 1383, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016, requires cities and counties to adopt and enforce an ordinance or enforceable mechanism to implement relevant provisions of SB 1383, and local implementation of SB 1383 requirements will also help reduce food insecurity by requiring commercial edible food generators to arrange to have the maximum amount of their edible food, that...
Holiday Pickup Schedule
Petaluma's code carves Sundays and legal holidays out of its daily commercial garbage rule. PMC § 8.16.310 requires perishable-food businesses like restaurants, markets and hotels to have their garbage collected every day except Sundays and holidays, between five a.m. and five p.m., a different schedule than the weekly rule that applies to homes.
Petaluma Holiday Trash Collection Exception
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.16.210, 8.16.310
The resolution shall provide a monthly rate for regular daily collection, except for Sundays and holidays, for containers not exceeding thirty gallons in capacity. ... All garbage and rubbish accumulated at any place of business dealing in perishable food commodities including hotels, restaurants, fruit or vegetable markets, fish, meat or poultry markets, or other business places or institution...
Illegal Dumping
Petaluma bans dumping sweepings, garbage, weeds, dirt or any refuse into streets, gutters, sidewalks, vacant lots or private premises anywhere in the city. PMC § 8.12.010 makes the act unlawful outright, and companion sections separately bar depositing debris on any lot or discharging waste into the Petaluma River.
Petaluma Illegal Dumping Prohibition
Heavy RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code § 8.12.010
It is unlawful for any person to dump any sweepings, yard litter, garbage, weeds, grass, leaves, accumulation of dirt, or refuse matter of any kind into the gutter of any street, alley or in or on any street, sidewalk, footpath or any public place or upon any vacant lot or other private premises in the city.
Yard Waste Collection
Petaluma's garbage collector picks up garden and tree trimmings at the curb, but only within fixed limits: tree branches can't exceed two inches in diameter or five feet in length and must be tied and bound, while garden trimmings need to fit in a box or carton. Both go on the planting strip or within five feet of the street right-of-way, or next to the can where alleys are used.
Petaluma Yard Waste and Trimmings Pickup
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.16.020, 8.16.030
Garden trimmings shall be removed by the garbage collector, and shall include lawn cuttings, dead plants and similar small cuttings, and when deposited in a box or carton of approximately the size necessary to contain the same, shall be placed on the planting strip, or on the property within five feet of the street right-of-way, except for garbage and rubbish to be collected in alleys, where tr...
Dumpster Rules
Every Petaluma home and business must keep a watertight metal garbage container of no more than thirty gallons, capped at 125 pounds loaded, under PMC § 8.16.180. Section 8.16.200 then fixes exactly where it sits for pickup: within five feet of the rear property line if there's an alley, or twenty feet of the rear of the building if not.
Petaluma Trash Container Placement Rules
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.16.180, 8.16.200
Each vessel, tank, box or receptacle shall be constructed of metal and shall be watertight and shall have a capacity of not more than thirty gallons; and shall be provided with a handle on the outside thereof and a tight-fitting metal cover. No container shall be loaded to such an extent that the weight, including its contents, exceeds one hundred and twenty-five pounds. ... Where there is any ...
Collection Schedule
Petaluma requires every property owner and occupant in the city to receive garbage collection service, whether the structure is existing, newly built, or changing occupants. PMC § 8.16.205 finds that citywide periodic collection protects public health and safety, and bills the cost to the owner or occupant at council-set rates.
Petaluma Mandatory Garbage Collection Service
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code § 8.16.205
The city council hereby finds that the public health, safety and welfare of the people of the city is hereby promoted by the periodic collection of garbage and rubbish from all places within the city. Therefore, all owners and occupants presently receiving such service, all owners and occupants of structures hereafter constructed and all owners and occupants of existing structures not receiving...
Recycling Rules
Once you set garbage, rubbish or recyclable material out in a container designated for pickup, Petaluma Municipal Code transfers ownership to the city's exclusive garbage collector on the spot. You keep the right to fish an item back out only until the truck actually empties the receptacle, and nobody but the collector or a city agent may open that bin without your written say-so.
Petaluma: Who Owns Your Recycling
Some RestrictionsPetaluma Municipal Code §§ 8.16.330, 8.16.340
Upon placement by the owner or occupant of a premises of garbage, rubbish, or recyclable materials in a receptacle designated for the collection of these items by the garbage collector, the garbage and rubbish, including all recyclable materials, shall become the property of the garbage collector. The owner or occupant of a premises shall have the right up to the point in time that the garbage ...
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County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Petaluma city rules.
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