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

Lake County explains that each jurisdiction — the City of Clearlake, the City of Lakeport, and the County for the unincorporated area — contracts with haulers to offer voluntary refuse collection within that jurisdiction; residents call the hauler serving their area to start service. Because service is voluntary, unincorporated residents may instead self-haul their own waste to the Eastlake Landfill or transfer station. For curbside subscribers, rates are set by the size of the garbage cart, while recycling (blue) and green-waste carts are provided at no charge. Collection days vary by location; per the hauler's rules, there is no service on Memorial Day, Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's Day, and collection that week shifts one day later before resuming. Self-haulers pay by load size, and a surcharge applies if a self-hauled load contains recyclables that have not been sorted out. The Lake County Division of Environmental Health is the local enforcement agency that permits and inspects solid-waste haulers and facilities.