What You Cannot Put in the Trash in California
A complete list of what California bans from household bins, why, and where each item goes instead.
California bans a specific list of items from household rubbish: electronics, batteries, fluorescent lamps, mercury thermostats, paint, motor oil, pesticides, pool chemicals, propane tanks, mattresses in most areas, medical sharps, and tires. Everything on that list has a free or low-cost route that is not the bin.
Universal waste — the biggest category
California’s universal waste rules cover items that are hazardous but common enough in households that a simplified handling route makes sense:
- Electronics — televisions, monitors, computers, phones, printers
- Batteries — every kind, including the AAs in your drawer
- Fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs — they contain mercury
- Mercury thermostats and thermometers
- Electronic devices with circuit boards
All of it goes to a county household hazardous waste facility, free for residents in LA, Orange and San Diego counties.
Household hazardous waste
Paint, solvents, motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides, herbicides, pool chemicals and cleaning chemicals. Same destination — the county facilities take all of it free.
Motor oil has an easier route: most auto parts stores accept used oil and filters free, because they are required to.
The awkward ones
- Propane tanks. Pressurised vessels. Even “empty” ones retain vapour and are a real explosion risk in a compactor. Exchange programmes and county facilities take them.
- Mattresses. Banned from most landfill disposal in California. The state recycling programme funds free drop-off at participating sites.
- Medical sharps. Regulated separately. Many pharmacies and county programmes accept them in approved containers.
- Ammunition and flares. These go to your local law enforcement agency. Not the county, not a hauler.
Organics, which is newer
California’s SB 1383 requires organic waste — food scraps and green waste — to be diverted from landfill, because decomposing organics generate methane. Most California residents now have a separate organics bin. Green waste in the general bin is increasingly not just wasteful but non-compliant.
What this means for a cleanout
No junk removal company can legally take anything on the hazardous list in a standard truck. On a garage or estate cleanout, set those items in one corner before we arrive. We will take everything else, and tell you where the rest goes.