Tulare County, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Ordinance Code § 4-03-1005 defines "Green Waste" as biodegradable material including branches less than three inches in diameter, brush, cut flowers, dead plants, grass clippings, house plants, leaves, prunings, shrubs, weeds, untreated wood, wood chips and yard trimmings, plus Christmas trees if placed in a cart or bin with no stand, flocking or decorations and cut into two-foot sections; tree stumps and intact dead trees are excluded and instead treated as Bulk Waste. The same section defines "Uncontainerized Green Waste and Yard Waste Collection Service" as a collection service that picks up green waste and yard waste "placed in a pile or bagged for collection on the street in front of a generator's house or place of business," distinguishing it from the standard wheeled-cart Green Container service required of single-family generators under § 4-03-1635.

Under § 4-03-1635(a), residential customers must subscribe to the County's organic waste collection service, which includes the Green Container for yard trimmings, unless they qualify for the on-site composting or Community Composting exemption described in § 4-03-1635(a) and § 4-03-1005. Material that does not fit the Green Waste definition, such as an intact dead tree or a cut stump, must instead be scheduled through On-Call Bulk Item Pick-Up under § 4-03-1147 rather than set out with routine yard waste.