City of Elk Grove

Integrated Waste

Guide to Collection Services

bullet Basic Service Information
bullet How the Three-Cart System Works
bullet Other Information

 

BFI Truck

Allied Waste Services provides solid-waste collection services under an exclusive franchise agreement with the City of Elk Grove. These services include collection of all solid waste, residential recyclables, used motor oil and yard trimmings.

Using collection trucks with mechanical arms to empty containers is the most efficient method of waste collection. This type of system works best when drivers can pull up to a home and easily empty containers. Please familiarize yourself with collection service guidelines listed on this page. By following these guidelines, you will help us provide the best service possible.

Elk Grove residents receive the following Enhanced Service Package:

1. Weekly Garbage Service (choice of 32, 64 or 96-gallon container)
2. Green Waste Collection (choice of 32, 64 or 96-gallon container; every other week)
3. Mixed Recycling (choice of 32, 64 or 96-gallon container; every other week)
4. Neighborhood Cleanup Service (once a year)
5. Annual Free “Dump” at the Elder Creek Transfer Station
6. Carts serviced on property for physically challenged and elderly with documentation
7. Composting materials available to residents
8. Oil and filters picked up at curbside
9. Holiday trees picked up at curbside
10. Additional services available for a fee: curbside pickup for bulky items, computer monitors/televisions, and extra mid-week garbage pickup

Basic Service Information

bullet Collection Schedule bullet Special Service
bullet Container Set-Out bullet Missed Collection
bullet Placement & Storage    

 

Collection Schedule:
Recycling Information about collection schedules for garbage, green waste, and mixed recycling is listed below. If you need to know your designated collection day, please call Allied Waste customer service at (916) 635-2500.

  • Garbage service is provided on a weekly basis.
  • Green waste and mixed recycling are collected on an alternating week basis; green waste is collected one week and mixed recycling the next. Click here for a collection schedule.
  • Containers must be at the streetside no later than 6:00 a.m. on your scheduled collection day, most holidays included. (Except Christmas and New Years day)

Container Set-Out:
When containers are placed too close to each other, drivers must leave their automated trucks to provide service. This greatly reduces efficiency and may lead to increased service costs.

  • Please place containers on the streetside as shown below, so they do not block pedestrian use of sidewalks.
  • Place containers at least three (3) feet away from each other.
  • Keep containers a minimum of six (6) feet away from cars, boats, and other stationary objects to avoid risk of private property damage.
  • Place containers at streetside so handles face your residence.

Placement of Carts

Placement & Storage:
Please remove containers from the streetside after they are serviced on collection day. The appearance of neighborhoods is improved if residents store containers in side or back yards after servicing.

Special Service:
If your container is full before collection day, call Allied Waste at (916) 635-2500, for extra service at an added charge.

Missed Collection:
For a missed collection, call Allied Waste at (916) 635-2500.   

How the Three-Cart System Works

 

bullet The Brown Trash Cart
bullet The Green Recycling Cart
bullet The Yard & Garden Cart
bullet Why services may not be provided

 

The Brown Trash Cart
Brown Cart (Tan color)

This brown cart is collected at the curb every week on your regular scheduled collection day. Service days may be subject to change, and customers will be notified in advance.

Placement of all carts at the curb is essential to ensure collection by automated trucks. Place your trash cart on either side of your driveway, at the edge of the curb. Allow a minimum of three feet of clearance on all sides of the cart from objects such as trees, fences, mailboxes, streetlights, and other carts. Carts must be a minimum of six feet from any vehicles. Position your carts so that pedestrians can use the sidewalk.

Please place only these items in your
Brown Trash Cart:

Accepted Materials

Unaccepted Materials
Household garbage
  • Hot ashes or coals
  • Dirt, sod, rocks, or concrete
  • Toxic or highly flammable materials such as oil, gas or paint
  • Construction, remodeling or demolition debris
  • Heavy metal items such as auto parts
DO NOT place household hazardous waste into garbage containers. See Proper Disposal Options.

 

The Green Recycling Cart
(Green color)

Green Cart You can do your part to help save landfill space, preserve natural resources, and conserve energy by participating. Put your recycling cart in a convenient location and use it every day. Make the recycling lifestyle a part of your household.

Each home is entitled to two recycling carts at no additional costs.

 

 

 

 

Please place only these items in your
Green Recycling Cart:
Acceptable Materials Unaccepted Materials
  • Tin & steel cans
  • Aluminum cans
  • Glass bottles & jars
  • Newspapers
  • Plastic bottles & jugs
  • Aluminum foil & trays
  • Brown paper bags
  • Corrugated cardboard
  • Chipboard boxes
  • fruit
  • Junk mail
  • Colored paper & bags
  • Construction paper
  • Envelopes
  • Shoe boxes
  • Catalogs
  • Computer paper
  • White ledger paper
  • Chipboard
  • Household Garbage
  • Concrete, dirt or rocks
  • Treated or painted wood
  • Animal waste
  • Glass
  • Metal
  • Stumps
  • Plastic bags

 

The Yard & Garden Cart
(Grey color)

Grey cart Recent surveys show that up to 40% of the residential waste stream is made up of organic green waste. You can help reduce waste by putting your yard and garden waste into this cart. Place this cart at the curb every other week along with your trash cart for collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please place only these items in your
Yard & Garden Cart:
 Accepted Materials Unaccepted Materials
  • Lawn trimmings
  • Garden prunings
  • Cuttings from trees & shrubs
  • Weeds
  • Leaves
  • No plastic bags
  • No dirt, rocks or concrete
  • No food scraps

 

Services may not be provided for the following reasons:

If service is not provided to your carts, look for a tag that may explain why your cart was not emptied. These are the following reasons carts are not serviced:

Trash Services

  • Placement of Cart
    • Cart too far from the curb--wheels should be against the curb.
    • Cart should not be placed on the sidewalk.
    • Cart facing the wrong direction--front of cart must be facing the street.
    • Cart blocked by insufficient space--carts must be no less than 3 feet from objects and 6 feet from vehicles, basketball hoops, boas or other obstructions.
  • Overstacked or Overweight Cart
    • Cart overfilled
    • Material in cart packed too tight. Material must fall freely from cart when dumped.
    • Break down all cardboard.
    • Material must be inside cart.
  • Extra Items Will Not Be Picked Up without Prior Authorization.
  • Trash Container is Contaminated
    • No hazardous waste--no paints, pesticides, or solvents
    • No dirt, rocks, concrete, or asphalt
    • No construction material
    • No television or computer monitors
    • No greenwaste--only grass, leaves, weeds, trimmings, shrubbery
    • No item longer than 6 feet
  • Styrofoam Packing Material Must Be Bagged and Placed in Garbage Cart.
  • Container Needs to Be Replaced or Repaired--please call Allied Waste for service.
  • Disabled Container(s) Inaccessible
  • Other

Greenwaste or Recycle Services

  • Placement of Cart
    • Cart too far from the curb--wheels should be against the curb.
    • Cart should not be placed on the sidewalk.
    • Cart facing the wrong direction--front of cart must be facing the street.
    • Cart blocked by insufficient space--carts must be no less than 3 feet from objects and 6 feet from vehicles, basketball hoops, boats or other obstructions
  • Overstacked or Overweight Cart
    • Cart overfilled
    • Material in cart packed too tight. Material must fall freely from cart when dumped.
    • Break down all cardboard.
    • Material must be inside cart.
  • Extra Items Will Not Be Picked Up without Prior Authorization.
  • Recycle Container is Contaminated--only mixed paper, cans, glass, plastic allowed
    • No hazardous waste--no paints, pesticides, or solvents
    • No organic materials
    • No trash
    • Call Allied Waste for clarification as to what items are recyclable
  • Greenwaste Container is Contaminated--only grass, leaves, weeds, trimmings, and shrubbery allowed
    • No hazardous waste - no paints, pesticides, or solvents
    • No concrete, dirt, bricks, or rocks
    • No trash
    • No item longer than 6 feet
  • Styrofoam Packing Material Must Be Bagged and Placed in Garbage Cart.
  • Container Needs to Be Replaced or Repaired--please call Allied Waste for service
  • Disabled Container(s) Inaccessible
  • Wrong Week for Collection of This Material
  • Other

Other Information

bullet Special Residential Waste Services
bullet Winter Tips
bullet Contamination
bullet Basketball Hoops
bullet Free Dump Day-No Coupon Needed
bullet Cart Exchange, repair and replacement

 

Special Residential Waste Services

If you need a little extra help, our on-property service helps individuals with disabilities and seniors*. If you are an individual with a disability or are over the age of 75 and have no one residing in your home to place your carts curbside, Allied Waste will take all your carts from their storage area, empty them and return them to their original location at no additional charge. Please call Allied Waste at 635-2500 to make arrangements.

*Individuals with disabilities as attested by a medical doctor; proof of age as evidenced by a driver’s license, birth certificate or other government document.

Winter Tips:

  • Do not overload carts, as trash is more susceptible to blowing out of the cart when the additional trash prevents the lid from closing.
  • During windy conditions, do not put carts out until morning, in order to reduce the amount of time the cart is exposed to highwind conditions. Place carts out by 6:00 a.m.
  • In rural areas, without sidewalks or curbs and gutters, place the cart on level, solid ground.

Contamination:
The mixed recycling and green waste collection programs have been a great success. However, we need your help with a continuing problem - the placement of unacceptable materials into collection containers. Garbage that is thrown into these containers increases processing costs and could lead to service fee increases. Please place only acceptable materials into mixed recycling and green waste containers. Click here for a listing of acceptable and unacceptable materials.

Basketball Hoops:
Another problem for collection truck drivers is access to containers on streets and cul-de-sacs which have portable basketball hoops in front of homes. It's difficult to service containers that are blocked by portable hoops. Please remove portable hoops from the street the night prior to your collection day and/or by making sure containers are at least six feet from the hoop.

Free Dump Day-No Coupon Needed:
Residential households in Elk Grove are entitled to one Free Dump Day annually, during which residents may discard at no charge a load of trash that would fill a pickup truck.

The volume that's allowed is 5 cubic yards or about 7 feet by 6 feet by 4 feet. The trash can be dumped at the Allied Waste Elder Creek Transfer and Recovery Station at 8624 Elder Creek Road.

To be eligible to participate, residents need only show proof of residency, such as a valid driver's license with your Elk Grove address on it or your Elk Grove utility bill along with a photo ID.

Last year, each household received a Free Dump Day coupon with their new carts from Allied Waste. No coupon is required this year for residents to take advantage of Free Dump Day.

When delivering your extra trash to the Elder Creek Transfer and Recovery Station, your vehicle will be weighed entering and leaving the station.

Allied Waste's Elder Creek Transfer and Recovery Station at 8624 Elder Creek Road is open 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Take Hwy. 99 North to 47th Avenue East, which turns into Elder Creek Road at Stockton Boulevard, or take Elk Grove-Florin Road and turn left on Elder Creek Road.

Cart exchange, repair, and replacement:
The number and size of trash, green waste, or recyclables carts in 32, 64, or 96-gallon sizes will be exchanged on the next regularly scheduled collection date following your request without charge once each year. Additional cart exchanges will incur a surcharge. Damaged carts (broken wheels, hinges or other functional parts) will be repaired or replaced without surcharge within 48 hours of request.

For questions regarding your billing account, please contact Elk Grove Utilities Division at (916) 478-3642.

 

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City of Elk Grove . 8401 Laguna Palms Way . Elk Grove, California 95758 . 916.683.7111 . Fax 916.691.2001