Tulare County, CA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

The County does not collect trash itself; under the Management of Solid Waste ordinance (County Code Chapter 4-3) it franchises private haulers to serve the unincorporated area. Section 4-03-1150 (Required Service) provides that, within any established Service Area, the owner of each premises used as an occupied residence, place of business, or other building where persons reside, congregate or are employed 'shall subscribe to and thereafter use regularly scheduled collection service' with the appropriate County franchise hauler. Section 4-03-1130 requires that garbage cans be emptied weekly. The County requires its licensed haulers to serve everyone in their service area, and in exchange grants each hauler an exclusive right to collect in that area; the Board of Supervisors sets the rates haulers may charge in the unincorporated county. Franchise haulers serving unincorporated Tulare County include Mid-Valley Disposal, Tule Trash Company, Pena's Disposal, Miramonte Sanitation, USA Waste (Waste Management), and South Tulare-Richgrove Refuse. Limited exemptions exist: section 4-03-1155 allows an 'inaccessible property' exemption, and the County offers a Self-Hauler Waiver Application for those who lawfully self-haul their own waste.