West Covina, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Chapter 12, Article II of the West Covina Municipal Code governs yard waste alongside garbage and recyclables. Sec. 12-16 defines yard waste narrowly as leaves, grass clippings, cuttings and shrubs generated by routine household or property maintenance, and separately defines 'removal' as taking yard waste from the place of generation by an approved collection agent or the person controlling the premises. Under Sec. 12-17(a), the city provides solid waste and yard waste collection exclusively through its own crews or a company holding an exclusive city franchise; it is unlawful for anyone else to collect yard waste for a fee within city limits.

The code carves out one exception: no collector permit or franchise is required for removing vegetative cuttings, other non-garbage solid waste, or manure to a legal disposal site as part of gardening, horticulture, or composting, so a landscaper hauling away clippings from a job does not need a city contract. Sec. 12-18 sets the collection schedule, requiring yard waste to go out on the same weekly cycle as trash and recycling unless the city and the approved hauler determine a different schedule is necessary. When yard waste is bundled rather than containerized, Sec.

12-21(b)(2) caps each bundle at three feet in length and one foot in diameter, and bars any bundle weighing more than fifty pounds. Residential customers must subscribe to the city's collection service under Sec. 12-17(c), and shared containers on a property do not excuse the subscription requirement.