Petaluma, CA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum frequency
- At least once per week
- Collection hours
- 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Covers
- Single-family homes and multi-family buildings
- Ownership transfer
- Materials become collector's once placed out (§8.16.330)
- Scavenging
- Banned except by city or collector (§8.16.340)
Summary
Petaluma requires residential garbage and rubbish to be collected at least once a week, and only between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., under PMC § 8.16.320. The rule covers single-family homes as well as apartments, flats and multi-family buildings, with pickup timed so containers never sit full.
All garbage and rubbish accumulated at any single-family private dwelling house, and at any apartment, flat or residence for more than one family shall be collected and removed at sufficiently regular intervals as shall be necessary to remove the containers thereof when full and not less than once each week, and between the hours of six a.m. and six p.m., on such dates of removal.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2931 NCS, passed July 6, 2026).
Full Breakdown
on the scheduled day. That schedule sits inside a broader ownership and access framework. 330 transfers ownership of those materials to the licensed garbage collector, though the resident retains the right to retrieve an item placed in error up until the collector actually empties the can. 340 bars anyone other than a city or garbage-collector employee from accessing a receptacle placed out for collection, or from otherwise interfering with it, without the prior written approval of the property's owner or occupant, so unauthorized scavenging, including pulling out recyclables, is off-limits. 200. 310, distinct from the weekly residential minimum here.
Violations & Fines
A collector servicing residential accounts outside the required weekly-minimum, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. schedule, or anyone unlawfully accessing a receptacle placed for collection, violates PMC §§ 8.16.320 and 8.16.340. Both are enforced under the chapter's general misdemeanor penalty at § 8.16.110: a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment in county jail for up to six months, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often must my trash be picked up in Petaluma?
What hours can trash trucks run in Petaluma neighborhoods?
Who owns my trash once I put it in the can?
Can someone else take items out of my recycling bin before pickup?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Petaluma
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