Curbside Collection Frequently Asked Questions

All residential solid waste customers will be supplied with two types of easy-to-use wheeled carts; one for garbage and one for single stream recycling. Blue carts will be used for solid waste and gray carts will be used for recycling. For garbage, simply place bagged garbage into the blue cart and roll it to the curb or the edge of the road on your regular collection day. For recycling, place your recyclables directly into the gray cart (no bags) and set out every other week on your regular collection day. Humboldt Sanitation then empties these carts using trucks equipped with special mechanical lifting arms.

The carts are owned by Humboldt Sanitation and provided to you free of charge when you sign up for automated curbside service. Your roll carts are assigned to your address using a serial number imprinted on the cart. Please record these numbers in your User’s Guide, which is provided with your new roll carts. This will help you identify your carts from your neighbor’s or if your carts are stolen or misplaced. Feel free to attach a removable tag to your cart with your house number to help easily identify it, but please do not permanently mark your carts.

Clean-Up Container Rental

Hazardous Waste

Additional Suggestions When Using Your Carts

Place your carts at the curb or edge of the street or alley with the wheels and handle facing toward your house (away from the street). Be sure there is a minimum clearance of six (6) feet on all sides of the carts, including mailboxes, trees, cars etc. The refuse and recycling carts also need to be placed three (3) feet apart from each other. This will allow the automated truck arm to safely reach the carts and dump them into the refuse or recycling truck. If you find your cart in a different location after it has been emptied, please note where it is located and set out the cart in this new location in the future.

If you occasionally have more garbage than will fit in your cart you may place this extra waste in a bag next to your trash cart. You will be charged an additional fee for any extra waste that does not fit completely in your cart, with the lid fully closed. If you will have extra, you must call our office first, so we may notify your driver that there will be extra bags to be picked up at your service address. We will not pick-up any extra waste that has not been scheduled with our office. This will help you avoid any charges for extra waste that may be placed near your cart, which was not authorized by the account holder for pick-up. These bags will be picked up at the same time the garbage cart is emptied. The maximum weight for a garbage bag cannot exceed 50lbs and it must be of standard size: up to 26" by 36". Make sure any extra is placed next to your refuse cart, not on top of it. Any additional recycling can be brought to our facility at 2585 Central Ave for drop-off or reimbursement for any materials that have California Redemption Value.

You will be given two carts: one blue cart for garbage, and one gray cart for recycling. All household waste that cannot be placed into your recycling cart should go into your trash cart. The recycling cart will be used for single stream recycling. This means all recyclables – paper, cardboard, tin cans, and plastic containers – can simply be put into the cart mixed together, no bags and no sorting required. A complete listing of what is accepted and what is not accepted will be provided in the Recycling Usage Guide that is delivered with your new recycling cart. Recycling should not be placed in plastic bags but placed loosely into the specified gray cart. Garbage should be put in bags before placing into the blue refuse carts. Do NOT force or compact waste into the carts. The heaviest items should be placed at the bottom of the cart. Waste needs to fall freely from the cart when the automated arm lifts the container up and turns the cart upside down. If waste is forced, wedged or compacted into the cart this will result in your cart not being emptied completely.

We offer large dumpsters for rent that can be delivered to your address. Please download the Clean-Up Container Rental Agreement Form from our website or call our office at 707-839-3285 for more details. In addition, you can bring items directly to our facility at 2585 Central Ave. for disposal at our transfer station. All trash items large or small can be brought to our facility; however, we only take a limited list of hazardous waste items. For Recycling, all items that are accepted at curbside can also be brought into our facility on Central Avenue.

Keep the lid closed when your cart is not in use. This helps to contain odors and discourages scavengers, like birds, insects and other wildlife. It also keeps rain out.
The carts are the property of Humboldt Sanitation, do not deface the carts in any way, including with stickers, markers, paint, cuts, or other damage that may result in a replacement fee.
Do not put hazardous materials in your refuse or recycling cart.
Do not stack bags or other items on top of cart lids. The automated truck is not able to safely empty a cart when items are placed on the cart lid.
Do not fasten the cart lid closed at the curb. Lids must open and swing freely when emptied.
Do not overfill carts, lids must close completely.
Do not pack material so tightly that it might become wedged in the cart.
Do not place carts close to trees. Consider overhead clearance when placing carts at the curb. The automated arm needs to lift the carts up to empty them.
Do not place carts too close together or too close to other objects. A minimum of three (3) feet of space is necessary so that the automated arm does not damage surrounding objects or vehicles.
Do not put recyclables at the curb that do not fit in the recycling cart. Break down and flatten all cardboard and put it in the recycling cart. No waxed cardboard.
Do not place nonrecyclable materials in your recycling cart. We may inspect the contents of any recycling cart and carts found to contain materials not specifically identified on the list of acceptable materials on the Recycling Usage Guide,or containing materials considered detrimental to the value of the recycled materials will be tagged. We will notify the customer that unacceptable materials were found. Contents of the container will be collected as refuse and the customer will be billed for excess waste.