Yolo County, CA Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

501(a) of the Yolo County Code of Ordinances requires anyone who collects, handles, transfers, stores, processes or transports discarded materials, including bulky items, in the unincorporated area to first hold a franchise from the County, meaning residents can't simply hire an unlicensed hauler to take away an old couch or refrigerator. Subsection (b) lists narrow exceptions to that franchise requirement, and clause (vii), titled 'Bulky Items Direct from Retailer,' covers the most common way residents dispose of large items outside their regular cart service: when a customer buys a new mattress or major appliance and the retailer removes and recycles the old one as part of that sale, the retailer does not need its own county franchise to do it.

301(c)(1) for an exemption allowing them to personally self-haul discarded materials, at least 26 times a year, to an approved facility such as the Yolo County Central Landfill in Woodland or the Esparto Transfer Station, provided the hauling doesn't create unsanitary conditions or a nuisance. 502 confines collection service in each area to that one contracted hauler.