Mountain View, CA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

21 of the Mountain View City Code sets the collection station for one to four dwelling units on a single parcel at the street sidewalk line adjacent to the property. Standard garbage and waste containers, plus approved recycling containers, may be placed at that sidewalk line not more than twenty-four hours preceding the scheduled collection time, and the occupant or person in control of the premises is responsible for putting them out. The same section requires those containers to come back in promptly: no later than twenty-four hours after collection, the occupant must move each container off the sidewalk line to a spot on the parcel where it is suitably screened so as to not be visible from the street.

For uses other than one-to-four-unit residential parcels, such as commercial or multi-family properties, the number and location of collection stations is instead set by the property's occupant subject to approval from the disposal service operator, the city, or a permitted nonprofit collecting recyclables, and the station must stay easily accessible for pickup. 10: they must be fully enclosed with close-fitting covers and cannot exceed 75 pounds when filled for removal, except for special containers the disposal service operator has approved. 11. 0.