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

Sec. 17-30 sets the baseline: solid waste must be collected from regular residential and commercial premises not less frequently than once a week, and food-service commercial premises must be collected at least weekly too. , and the director can approve an earlier or later window only if the collector first notifies affected customers. The board can also adjust routes, intervals, delivery points, and collection times in a specific area to head off traffic, noise, or road-wear problems. Container placement is separately timed under Sec. 17-8(b): a container can't go out at the curb more than twenty-four hours before the scheduled pickup and must come back in within twelve hours after collection, and containers otherwise have to stay on the property, out of public view, when not awaiting pickup.

Where the resident supplies the container, Sec. 17-8(c) caps it at thirty-two gallons and sixty pounds when full, and bans liquid, toxic, or hazardous waste in any container. Multi-family residents must mark their containers so ownership is clear (Sec. 17-8(f)), and commercial bins used for pickup can't take an item over 150 pounds, more than 500 pounds per cubic yard, or any liquid, toxic, or hazardous waste, and must display a four-inch 'NO LIQUID, TOXIC OR HAZARDOUS WASTE' warning (Sec. 17-8(h)-(i)).