Butte County, CA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

1, part of the chapter's general prohibited-acts article, controls exactly when and where a container may sit at the curb in unincorporated Butte County. The rule bars any obstruction of a public street, public sidewalk, or public or private driveway, and it fixes a set-out window: no more than twelve hours ahead of your scheduled collection day, and removal within twenty-four hours after the hauler empties it. The same chapter requires the licensed hauler's own crews to handle containers with care once they are collected: Section 31-35(C)(13)(c)(2) requires the hauler to return an emptied container to within five feet of where it picked it up, upright, with the lid properly and fully secured, and bars the hauler from leaving containers where they obstruct a passable driveway, sidewalk, street or highway.

Containers themselves must be nonabsorbent, leak-resistant, watertight and fitted with tight-fitting lids, and must be clearly marked with the name and phone number of the licensed hauler, under Section 31-35(D)(3). Enforcement authority for the chapter is vested in the Butte County Public Health Department, Division of Environmental Health, under Section 31-53(c), and that office can also order removal or proper storage of waste left on open ground under Section 31-51.