Whatcom County, WA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

355 governs where a permanent trash or garbage storage area can sit on a developed lot: it must be screened on all sides from adjacent streets and properties by a solid fence or wall at least six feet tall, and the certified garbage hauler must have the chance to approve the exact location before the county signs off on the building or site permit, tying design directly to what the collection truck can actually service. 10. 040(B), single-family cans must fall within county-approved size classes, 30-to-32-gallon or 15-to-20-gallon 'mini-cans,' with 60- and 90-gallon carts offered only on weekly or every-other-week routes, and container design is subject to approval by whichever hauler is certified for that service area.

050(D) then controls where and when the cart actually gets emptied: material must be set out on the improved public road nearest the residence, or another mutually agreed location, by the designated collection day; the hauler is not required to collect at any particular hour; and a collector is not required to enter private property to retrieve a cart while an animal considered or feared to be vicious is loose, putting the burden on the resident to confine such an animal on collection day. Read together, the zoning code fixes where a permanent enclosure sits and how it must be screened, while the solid waste chapter fixes container size, hauler design approval, and the curb location and timing for pickup itself.