Chula Vista, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

CVMC 8.25.020 defines "Yard Waste" as "the leaves, grass, weeds, or wood materials from trees and shrubs from Single-Family and Multifamily premises or properties of the City's Organic Waste (to include landscape haulings from Residential sources)." The definition is deliberately narrow about what qualifies: "Acceptable materials for collection include all Yard Waste as herein defined, excluding treated or processed wood or lumber, bulky waste, or any other materials as shall be determined by the City as to not be salvageable. All acceptable Yard Waste shall be void of nails, wire, rocks, dirt, or any other material that is not considered Yard Waste." Setting out treated lumber, painted wood, or debris with embedded metal isn't yard waste under this code and won't be collected as such.

Yard waste is handled as a category of Organic Waste under Chapter 8.25, so it's covered by the same source-separation duty in CVMC 8.25.050(B)(1)-(2) that applies to all Organic Waste, residents must separate it from garbage and place it in the Organics Container for collection. But CVMC 8.25.050(B)(5) carves out a specific exception for brush and limbs too big for the cart: "Brush and limbs of trees may be placed outside of Organics Containers, tied with natural fiber (compostable) twine into bundles of not more than four feet in length, 18 inches in diameter and 35 pounds in weight." Anything bulkier than that has to be reduced in size before it can go in the Organics Container, which under the same subsection must not be overflowing and must close with the lid tightly fitted.