Stanislaus County, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)
Key Facts
- Garden waste definition
- Grass, leaves, trimmings, untreated wood
- Collection channel
- Organics container, not bulky pickup
- Bulky pickups
- Two free per year, garden waste excluded
- Correction window
- 7 days after violation notice
- Adopted
- Ord. CS 1315, 2022
Summary
Stanislaus County's refuse code defines grass clippings, leaves, tree and shrub trimmings, weeds, and untreated wood from yard work as "garden waste," a subset of the organic materials that must go out through the county's mandatory container collection service, not the twice-yearly bulky-item pickup, which specifically refuses garden waste and tree stumps.
"Garden waste" means vegetative organic waste that will decompose and/or putrefy, including, but not limited to, grass clippings, leaves, tree or shrub trimmings, weeds, unpainted and untreated wood, and other vegetative organic waste accumulated as a result of normal yard and landscaping installation, maintenance, or removal. Garden waste is a subset of organic materials.
Full Breakdown
010 places garden waste inside the broader "organic materials" category alongside food scraps and food-soiled paper, meaning it is meant to move through a resident's organics container under the county's one-, two-, or three-container collection service rather than the trash can. 040 requires every residential and commercial premises in the mandatory collection service area to subscribe, at minimum, to weekly discarded-materials service with its franchise collector, and lets the department change container number, size, or pickup frequency as needed. 135 gives each residential customer two no-cost bulky pickups a year for large items up to six feet in each dimension, but its list of unacceptable items includes "wood, garden waste, tree stumps" alongside construction debris and appliances, that material still has to go through the regular organics container, not the curb pile. 050 to an approved processing facility without a permit. The refuse chapters were adopted by Ordinance CS 1315 in 2022.
Violations & Fines
Garden waste set out on the wrong day or outside its organics container falls under the same enforcement as any other prohibited-contaminant or misplaced-container violation in Chapters 9.02 through 9.12: county representatives can tag the container, give a resident seven days to correct the condition under Section 9.08.250, and Section 9.12.100 backs that with base penalties running $50 to $100 for a first violation, $100 to $200 for a second, and $250 to $500 for a third or later violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put my tree trimmings out on bulky-item pickup day in Stanislaus County?
What exactly counts as garden waste under the county code?
Do I have to subscribe to organics collection just for yard waste?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Stanislaus County
California rules heatmap·Compare Stanislaus County to another location·View the California trash & recycling overview
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