Yard waste removal in Orange County

Most yard jobs begin after the cutting is done, with the mound left behind.

• Palm fronds, including the spiky boots that come off with them
• Branches, limbs, brush and hedge trimmings, loose or bagged
• Old landscaping: dead shrubs, ivy, roots, bark, plastic edging and weed fabric
• Sod, dirt and rock left when a lawn comes out or a planter gets regraded
• Stumps and log rounds already cut to a size people can lift

Under SB 1383, California's organics law, residents must take part in their local organics curbside program and sort organic waste into the correct containers. In Anaheim, the old yard waste cart became the brown organics cart on July 1, 2023, taking food waste along with grass clippings, leaves, weeds and small branches.

The limits are size and type. Mission Viejo's green-lid cart takes grass, leaves, tree and brush trimmings and dead plants, but the city's FAQ says "palm fronds and logs/stumps are NOT accepted" and sends them to the trash cart if they fit. Newport Beach's 2022 CR&R guide puts tree branches of 1-inch diameter in the green cart, keeps fronds, logs, stumps and yucca leaves out, and says "any other wood waste should be treated as a bulky item pick up."

Sources: CalRecycle: SB 1383 organics collection requirements; Republic Services: Anaheim residential service guide; City of Mission Viejo: food scrap recycling program FAQs; City of Newport Beach: CR&R residential services guide.

Heavy inert material is not green waste. Santa Ana's bulky item drop-off days turn away concrete, dirt, rocks, brick and asphalt, and Garden Grove's cleanup days refuse the same list plus sand and treated wood.

Under soil fees effective October 22, 2025, OC Waste & Recycling lists clean soil at $4.00 a ton and untested soil at the full disposal rate. A vehicle carrying more than 5 cubic yards or 8 tons needs pre-tested soil certification: a soil information form and lab testing first.

Sod sits in between: the grass is plant material, but its roots hold soil, so a rolled-up lawn is heavy.

Sources: City of Santa Ana: bulky item drop-off day; City of Garden Grove: community cleanup days; OC Waste & Recycling: landfill fees; OC Waste & Recycling: soil disposal.

For a normal week of yard work, the organics cart and the city's bulky pickup are the right tools. A hauler earns its place when:

• The whole job lands at once: a row of palms trimmed, a brushy hillside cleared, or a full landscape tear-out.
• The pile holds stumps, root balls, sod or dirt that no cart program will take.
• The waste sits down a narrow side yard or partway up a slope.
• A date is coming, like a listing, a move-out inspection or a letter from the HOA.
• There is no truck, or nobody wants spiky fronds in the one there is.

If that sounds like your yard, send photos for a quote or call (657) 822-0016.

In Aliso Viejo, the Aliso Viejo Community Association, not the city, runs landscape maintenance on most slopes, medians and parks, so a slope behind a townhome may be the association's to clear. On the Newport Beach peninsula, Balboa Island and Corona del Mar, CR&R collects from the alleys. In Santa Ana, the city says it is illegal to leave anything on the street, sidewalk or parkway unless a bulky item pickup is scheduled. The cities we cover are on our service areas page.

Sources: City of Aliso Viejo: about Aliso Viejo; City of Newport Beach: CR&R residential services guide; City of Santa Ana: illegal dumping and bulky item pickup.