Petaluma, CA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

170 obligates every owner, manager, or occupant of a place of business, boardinghouse, restaurant, hotel, apartment house, or eating house, and every household occupant, to provide and maintain at least one qualifying receptacle for garbage or rubbish, with an exception for residences equipped with a domestic garbage grinder that disposes of all garbage through the plumbing. 180 sets the container's specifications: it must be constructed of metal, watertight, fitted with an outside handle and a tight-fitting metal cover, hold no more than thirty gallons, and never be loaded so that its weight plus contents exceeds one hundred twenty-five pounds.

190 further requires the receptacle to stay covered except when garbage is actually being placed in or taken from it, and to be kept free of accumulated grease and decomposing material on the outside. 200: where a rear alley other than a blind alley exists, the container goes on the premises within five feet of the rear property line; where there is no alley or only a blind alley, it goes within twenty feet of the rear of the dwelling, apartment building, or place of business generating the waste.

090(P) lets the city's collection contract cover placement of large containers for rubbish or debris generated by packing, packaging, manufacturing, shipping, or similar commercial or industrial activity, so long as those containers are emptied on a regular basis at least once a month.