Collection

Weekly Collection

Collection occurs Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Frequency varies by complex; contact your property manager for details.

Holiday Collection

Collection occurs on all holidays except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. If these holidays occur Monday through Friday, collection will be one day later throughout the rest of that week.

Missed Pickup

If your garbage, recycling or yard trimmings, or scheduled* junk pickups are not picked up by 6 p.m. on your collection day, dial 3-1-1 or visit San José 311 to report missed pickups.

*Junk Pickups are required to be scheduled ahead of time and will be considered illegal dumping if not scheduled. Visit San Jose 311, dial 3-1-1 or call (408) 535-3500 to schedule a junk pick up at no cost.

Setout

Garbage and Recycling

Place garbage in the green dumpster and recyclables in the white bin or blue carts. Bins and carts must always be accessible for easy collection by the hauling trucks – never block the bins or carts with your vehicle, old furniture, or other oversized items. When setting out for collection day, keep bike lanes clear of carts and bins.

Yard Trimming Piles

• Yard trimmings collection varies by complex; contact your property manager for details.
• Remember to avoid parking on top of yard trimmings piles in the street and keep yard trimmings out of the recycling and garbage containers.
• Piles should be less than 5’ x 5’, placed at least 1’ from the curb and 5’ from carts, cars and additional piles. Yard trimmings should be kept out of bike lanes and red curbed areas.

Educational Materials

Contact GreenTeam to request free container labels.

There are also free downloads of What to Recycle flyers in multiple languages:

• What to Recycle - English
• What to Recycle - Spanish
• What to Recycle - Vietnamese
• What to Recycle - Chinese
• What Not to Recycle - English
• What Not to Recycle - Spanish
• What Not to Recycle - Vietnamese

For Renters

• Schedule a free junk pickup appointment through San José 311 for items such as sofas, mattresses, televisions and computers.
• Call GreenTeam at (408) 282-4400.
• Contact your property manager about:
  
  • Illegal dumping on premises (read our illegal dumping FAQs for residents)
  • Missed collection
  • Overflowing dumpsters, bins, and carts
  • Broken dumpsters, bins, and carts
  • Graffiti
  • Junk pickup setout instructions

For Property Owners/Managers

• Read our Illegal Dumping FAQs for Property Owners/Managers
• Tenant Garbage and Recycling Letter: Fill in and print/email this letter for move-ins, move-outs, annual notifications, or newsletter inserts:

• English Tenant Letter
• Spanish Tenant Letter
• Vietnamese Tenant Letter

Garbage Rates

Garbage rates include once-a-week collection of recycling bins or carts.

Your monthly service fee is based on:

• The frequency of collection.
• The number and sizes of all the garbage dumpsters in use at your complex.
  The distances and numbers of containers (garbage or recycling) that need to be pushed by the driver into an accessible position for collection.

Organics 

Organics are composted. Senate Bill (SB) 1383 requires all California cities to have composting programs for organics (food scraps, compostable paper, yard trimmings and more) effective in January 2022. San José's Residential Program is compliant by composting residential food scraps, which began in 2008. Garbage is sorted at the GreenWaste Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) located in San José to recover organics, which are sent to the Z-Best composting facility in Gilroy to become compost used for landscape and median projects. Visit California SB 1383 for more information.

Yard Trimmings

San José's Residential Program also composts yard trimmings. San José residents are eligible to receive FREE yard trimmings collection for their apartment or condo complex as part of their garbage service. Contact GreenWaste Customer Service at (408) 283-4800 to begin service. Keep food waste out of yard trimmings piles and carts to create a clean, high-quality compost that is used for agriculture application. 

greenTeam of San jose extra services

Call GreenTeam at (408) 282-4400 to: 

• Receive a free assessment of your complex's recycling and garbage service level needs.
• Request free, easy-to-read, trilingual labels for all recycling and garbage containers at your complex.

GreenTeam Bin Sizes and Specifications

To determine the appropriate bin or cart sizes required, it may be necessary to convert cubic yards to gallons, or vice versa. The following conversion information will enable faster calculations for specific development plans: 

1 gallon = 0.00495 cubic yards 

1 cubic yard = 202 gallons 

Example: 1 cubic yard of solid waste requires approximately two 96-gallon carts

*Dimensions may vary slightly depending on the manufacturer                                 +Bin heights listed without wheels; add 4" if a bin with wheel is desired

Note: Add one foot around bins for curb bumpers and maneuverability between walls.

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