Palm Desert, CA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Garbage service in the City of Palm Desert, California, is mandatory and runs through one exclusive franchise. Section 8.16.110 states that the city has an exclusive franchise agreement with the franchise waste hauler and that all generators must subscribe to the hauler's program unless the city grants a waiver. For a single-family home, § 8.19.060(A) requires the responsible party to subscribe to and pay for the three-container system, with weekly collection of recyclable materials, organic materials and solid waste, and the city can review container number and size and require a change in service level.

Removal frequency is set separately in § 8.16.020: every person in charge of a residence must arrange removal not less than once a week, while commercial and industrial buildings need removal not less than twice a week, or once a week with the health officer's written approval. Food handling establishments stay at twice a week, with once a week allowed only for those with a self-contained compactor and the written approval of the supervising sanitarian. Carts must be at the pickup area by five-thirty a.m. on collection day (§ 8.19.050).

Billing follows the property owner. Since July 1, 2015, single-family accounts are held in the legal record owner's name, and the city can use tax roll billing. Fees are delinquent if not paid within sixty days of the date they are due to the county, and a penalty not exceeding ten percent applies, plus up to one and one-half percent per month. An owner can suspend service for a total of four months, either as one request of four consecutive months or two requests of at most two consecutive months each, while no one resides at the home, and a restart fee applies when service resumes. New developments are exempt until the first newly built unit is occupied (§ 8.16.110).