Mill Valley Refuse Service provides residential garbage, recycling, and compost collection service to the Southern Marin communities of Almonte, Alto, Belvedere, Corte Madera, Homestead, Mill Valley, Strawberry, Tiburon and several unincorporated areas of Marin County.
We also rent debris boxes (a.k.a dumpsters) for household cleanups or remodels, portable toilets for job sites or events, and storage containers.
Garbage and compost are picked up every week.
Paper recycling is picked up one week, and container recycling is picked up the next on an Alternating Week Pickup Schedule.
Glass bottles and jars, metal lids, cans, and containers, plastic bottles, jugs, and tubs.
In addition to normal weekly collection of your garbage, recycling, and compost carts, we offer the following services for free so that you can safely dispose of your waste.
When scheduled in advance, we can collect and safely dispose of household hazardous waste such as household batteries, latex paint, computers monitors, or used motor oil..
A limited number of free curbside cleanups are included with your regular residential garbage service when scheduled in advance of your pickup day.
Not sure how to properly dispose of something? Below we’ve listed common materials that can and can’t go in each of your carts.
You can also search our What Goes Where tool to find out if a particular material can be reused, recycled, composted, or disposed of in your trash.
The County of Marin and the state of California are committed to accelerating climate progress by ensuring only garbage goes to landfills, thereby reducing methane emissions. Proper waste sorting helps protect the environment, conserve resources, and comply with state laws.
THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR PART!
* If possible, reuse your plastic bags and film or to the designated drop-off location at your local supermarket for recycling.
It’s important — and the law — to place all organic waste in your curbside compost cart to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep valuable materials out of landfills. California’s SB 1383 law mandates organics recycling to cut landfill methane emissions, protect the environment, and recover natural resources for future generations.
Place accepted items loose in the compost cart.
You may also place one (1) tied bundle of cuttings 2ft x 5ft next to the cart per week.
Instead of the Compost Cart you may put three (3) tied bundles 2ft x 5ft at the curb on your scheduled pick-up day.
We are unable to accept plastics labeled as compostable or biodegradable. Including these items would jeopardize the integrity of the compost produced by WM EarthCare™, which holds an organic certification from the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). OMRI standards forbid compostable or biodegradable plastics because many contain petroleum and degrade into microplastics, while others decompose too slowly. It is also difficult to differentiate between compostable and non-compostable plastics.
Please place any compostable or biodegradable plastics in your garbage cart or bin.
To help reduce greenhouse gases and protect our environment, California now requires everyone to sort their waste: compost food scraps and yard trimmings, and recycle paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles.
The brown cart with the blue lid is for clean paper and cardboard material only.
Please keep paper separate from container recycling before placing in the cart to prevent contamination.
If cardboard does not fit in the cart, it must be packed in 4’x4’x4′ bundles or smaller and tied with twine or string. Set bundles next to cart on pickup day.
The Container Cart is for containers only (i.e. glass jars and bottles, metal and aluminum cans, and plastic bottles).
California is in the process of standardizing cart colors to make it easier to properly separate materials to recycle, compost, or landfill no matter where you are.
If you have an all BROWN cart (brown body, brown lid), please continue to use it for container recycling. As these brown carts become non-serviceable, we will replace them with the new standardized all BLUE carts.
New residential customers receive all BLUE carts for container recycling.
* If possible, reuse your plastic bags and film or to the designated drop-off location at your local supermarket for recycling.
It’s important — and the law — to place all organic waste in your curbside compost cart to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep valuable materials out of landfills. California’s SB 1383 law mandates organics recycling to cut landfill methane emissions, protect the environment, and recover natural resources for future generations.
Place accepted items loose in the compost cart.
You may also place one (1) tied bundle of cuttings 2ft x 5ft next to the cart per week.
Instead of the Compost Cart you may put three (3) tied bundles 2ft x 5ft at the curb on your scheduled pick-up day.
We are unable to accept plastics labeled as compostable or biodegradable. Including these items would jeopardize the integrity of the compost produced by WM EarthCare™, which holds an organic certification from the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). OMRI standards forbid compostable or biodegradable plastics because many contain petroleum and degrade into microplastics, while others decompose too slowly. It is also difficult to differentiate between compostable and non-compostable plastics.
Please place any compostable or biodegradable plastics in your garbage cart or bin.
To help reduce greenhouse gases and protect our environment, California now requires everyone to sort their waste: compost food scraps and yard trimmings, and recycle paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles.
The brown cart with the blue lid is for clean paper and cardboard material only.
Please keep paper separate from container recycling before placing in the cart to prevent contamination.
If cardboard does not fit in the cart, it must be packed in 4’x4’x4′ bundles or smaller and tied with twine or string. Set bundles next to cart on pickup day.
The Container Cart is for containers only (i.e. glass jars and bottles, metal and aluminum cans, and plastic bottles).
California is in the process of standardizing cart colors to make it easier to properly separate materials to recycle, compost, or landfill no matter where you are.
If you have an all BROWN cart (brown body, brown lid), please continue to use it for container recycling. As these brown carts become non-serviceable, we will replace them with the new standardized all BLUE carts.
New residential customers receive all BLUE carts for container recycling.
Paper recycling (brown cart with blue lid) is picked up one week, and container recycling (brown cart with brown lid or all blue cart) are picked up the next on an alternating week pickup schedule as indicated in the calendar below.
To add the reoccurring recycling schedule from the Google Calendar follow these steps. You’ll need to add both the Container and Paper cart evetns as they are individual recurring events.
ADDING TO GOOGLE CALENDAR:
ADDING TO APPLE CALENDAR (iPHONE/iPAD):
ADDING TO OUTLOOK CALENDAR:
Please email us at customer@millvalleyrefuse.com or call our office at (415) 457-9760, Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Our customer support team will be happy to assist you.
Residents may request to put a vacation hold on service for a minimum of three months without any reactivation fee. For vacation holds less than three months, a $20 reactivation fee will apply. (Note: residents within the Mill Valley city limits only may request a vacation hold for a minimum of three weeks without a reactivation fee.)
Please email us at customer@millvalleyrefuse.com or call our office at (415) 457-9760 for more information.
Residential rates include the weekly pickup of garbage, recycling, and compost carts, plus free household hazardous waste pickups, and a limited number of free curbside cleanups. Rates are determined by the service area, level of service, and the number and size of garbage carts you use.
The rates and terms and conditions for each area we service can be found below. For information on special low-income rates, see the Terms and Conditions for the area in which you live, or give our office a call.
2024-2025
2024-2025
If you are unable to bring your trash can to the curb because you are elderly (defined as 70 years or older) or disabled, simply download the MVRS Exemption Form, sign and return it to us. We will help you find a mutually agreeable location on your property where you can place your trash can for our drivers to collect at the regular curbside rate.
Residential customers are billed quarterly. Set up or log in to your account to pay your bill online or set up reoccurring payments.
California law requires all generators of waste (businesses, public entities, and single/multifamily residents) to properly sort their waste, by either placing food scraps, food/beverage soiled paper products, and yard trimmings in the compost cart or self-hauling compostable material to a composting facility or program. Residents must also place recyclables such as paper and cardboard, (and cans and bottles) in the recycling cart. Jurisdictions (cities, counties, and special districts) have the authority to assess a fine for non-compliance.
Your carts will not be dumped if heavily contaminated.
Instead, our driver will leave a Violation Notice on the cart handle describing the contaminant observed in the cart and provide an opportunity to clean out the cart for pick up the following week. You may opt to request a special pickup (for a fee) after cleaning the cart.
When a cart is tagged, a sticker that describes a number of the most common contaminants will be placed on the cart lid as a permanent reminder of what should NOT be put in the cart.
If you receive a Violation Notice and want to schedule a special pickup, please email us at customer@millvalleyrefuse.com or call our office Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., at (415) 457-9760. Our customer support team will be happy to assist you.
We make every effort to provide the best service possible. If your carts are skipped on your regular service day, please email us at customer@millvalleyrefuse.com or call our office at (415) 457-9760, Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Our customer support team will be happy to assist you.
We will pick up your cart or return your call the following morning.
If you have any extra garbage, compost, or recycling that does not fit inside your regular cart(s), please email us at customer@millvalleyrefuse.com or call our office at (415) 457-9760 — at least a day before your pickup — to place an order for the extra pickup. Additional fees apply.
Marin residents can drop off household hazardous waste for free at the Marin Household Hazardous Waste Facility in San Rafael.
We also offer free curbside pickup of approved hazardous wastes for residential customers. Visit our Residential Household Hazardous Waste page for details on accepted materials and scheduling.
Schedule your free curbside cleanup in advance as part of your regular residential garbage service. Visit our Residential Curbside Cleanup page for details on accepted materials and scheduling.
Garbage collected by Mill Valley Refuse service is taken to the Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center in Novato.
Compost collected by Mill Valley Refuse service is taken to the Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center where it is processed into Homegrown Compost, a premium, affordable compost which you can purchase directly from The Redwood Landfill’s WM EarthCare™ Center in Novato.
California law (SB 1383) requires everyone in California – from residents and businesses to schools, apartments, and government buildings – to sort their organic waste properly so it doesn’t end up in landfills. Diverting organic waste from landfill is an integral part of the state’s climate change program and can significantly reduce the impacts of climate change in our lifetime.
All recycling collected by Mill Valley Refuse service is taken to the Marin Resource Recovery Center where it is sorted to be processed into raw materials, which are then used to create new products, reducing the need for virgin resources and minimizing environmental impact.
California law (SB 1383) requires everyone in California – from residents and businesses to schools, apartments, and government buildings – to sort recyclable and compostable materials into the appropriate containers.
COLLECTION SERVICES
We are a family owned and operated business and have proudly served Marin County for over 100 years.
