Upland disposal guide

How to Get Rid of Junk in Upland, CA

Upland residents with trash service get up to four free bulky item pickups a year from Burrtec, five items each. Paint, batteries, electronics and chemicals go to the free Saturday drop-off at the Upland City Yard. Mattresses, usable furniture and construction debris each have their own route. This guide covers where every common item goes.

Item by item

Where Each Type of Junk Goes in Upland

Find the thing you are trying to get rid of, then follow the route. Rules change, so each card links to the office that sets them.

Furniture and Other Bulky Items

Couches, tables, dressers, rugs and anything too big for your trash barrel can go out on a Burrtec bulky item pickup. Barrel customers get up to four a year, with five items per pickup. Book it about a week before your collection day.

Mattresses and Box Springs

A mattress counts as a bulky item, so it can go on your Burrtec pickup. If you've used up your pickups, California's Bye Bye Mattress program runs free drop-off sites for residents. Its locator lists the nearest ones to Upland.

Appliances

Washers, dryers, stoves and water heaters are on the bulky item list. Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners hold refrigerant, so the Upland City Yard hazardous waste drop-off won't take them. Book them on a bulky pickup instead, and tell Burrtec what the item is when you book.

TVs, Computers and Electronics

In California, electronics are universal waste, which DTSC has banned from household trash since 2006. Add them to a bulky item pickup or take them to the Saturday drop-off at the Upland City Yard.

Paint, Chemicals and Batteries

Paint, thinners, pool chemicals, pesticides, motor oil, antifreeze, propane tanks, fluorescent tubes and batteries all go to the free household hazardous waste drop-off at the Upland City Yard, 1370 N Benson Ave. It's open on Saturday mornings and only for San Bernardino County residents.

Yard Waste and Christmas Trees

Branches, clippings and leaves go in your green waste cart. Burrtec's Christmas tree recycling runs in the first two weeks of the new year, and flocked trees are accepted. A pile of storm debris or a cleared hillside is too much for one cart. Plan for extra carts or a haul.

Concrete, Dirt and Remodel Debris

Broken concrete, block, tile, drywall and lumber aren't household trash, and they aren't bulky items. The nearest large transfer station is Burrtec's West Valley facility at 13373 Napa St, Fontana. Call ahead to confirm what it accepts from self-haulers and how loads must be separated.

Things Still Worth Using

Working appliances, cabinets, doors, flooring and furniture in good condition can be donated to the Pomona Valley Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Montclair. Drop-offs are by appointment, so book before you load the car.

Food Scraps

Under California's SB 1383, Upland residents must keep food waste out of regular trash and recycling. Burrtec inspects carts and tags ones that don't comply. The City Yard gives out one free kitchen food-waste pail per household.

Burrtec bulky item pickup

How Upland's Free Bulky Item Pickup Works

Free bulky item pickup is the simplest way to clear large items in Upland if you have it. It's for residential trash barrel customers, and it's limited to five items per pickup and four pickups in a rolling year.

Book With Burrtec

Count Your Items

Each pickup takes up to five items. A couch, a mattress, a box spring, a dresser and a TV already fill one pickup, so split a big clear-out across two pickups.

Book About a Week Ahead

The City asks residents to request the pickup about one week before their regular collection day, online through Burrtec or by phone.

Describe What's Going Out

Say exactly what the items are, especially appliances and electronics, so the right truck comes and nothing gets left behind.

Get It to the Curb Yourself

This is a curbside service, so everything has to be at the curb on pickup day. Plan for helpers and a hand truck if items are upstairs or at the back of a garage.

Upland City Yard, 1370 N Benson Ave

The Upland Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off

San Bernardino County Fire runs this free collection for county residents (Fontana excepted). According to the City, it's open Saturdays from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm. It closes on holiday weekends, in bad weather, on days of 100°F or hotter, and once it reaches capacity.

Paint, thinners and hobby supplies

Used motor oil, oil filters and antifreeze

Household cleaners and cooking oil

Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers

Pool chemicals

Propane tanks

Fluorescent tubes and batteries

Electronic waste

Medications and sharps

Not accepted at the City Yard: business waste, solar panels, CO2 canisters, e-scooter and e-bike batteries, refrigerators, air conditioners, explosives, asbestos, radioactive waste and medical waste. Loads must stay under 15 gallons or 125 pounds per trip, carried in the back of the vehicle.

California law

Never Put These in Your Upland Trash Barrel

Batteries of any size, including phone and laptop batteries

Fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs

TVs, monitors, computers and other electronic devices

Mercury thermostats and other mercury-containing equipment

Paint, solvents, motor oil and pool chemicals

Needles and sharps, which also can't go in recycling

Self-hauling

Hauling Junk Yourself From Upland

Secure the Load

California law requires loads to be secured so nothing falls or blows out. Tarp and strap anything light, like cardboard, insulation, yard waste or bagged trash, before you leave the driveway.

Separate Before You Load

Clean concrete, green waste, metal and mixed trash are often handled separately at transfer stations. A mixed load may be refused or charged as the most restrictive material in it. Sort at home, not at the scale house.

Call the Facility First

Hours, accepted materials and self-haul rules change. Confirm with the transfer station or landfill on the day, especially for concrete, dirt, tires and appliances.

Weigh the Real Cost

A self-haul often takes a borrowed or rented truck, several trips, loading time and a free weekend. For one load of yard waste that's fine. For a whole garage it adds up fast.

If hauling it yourself doesn't add up, tell us what needs to go and where it is on the property.

When the city options don't fit

When a Junk Removal Service Makes More Sense

The free city programs cover most small jobs, and you should use them. They stop working when any of these apply.

Questions

Upland Junk Disposal FAQ

Yes, for residential trash barrel customers. The City of Upland's contract with Burrtec includes up to four bulky item pickups in a rolling calendar year, with a limit of five items per pickup.

Burrtec Waste Industries is the City of Upland's contracted hauler for residential and commercial trash, recycling and organics.

To the household hazardous waste collection at the Upland City Yard, 1370 N Benson Ave. San Bernardino County Fire runs it free for county residents on Saturday mornings. Check the City's page before you go, because it closes on holiday weekends and in bad weather.

No. California classifies electronics as universal waste, and DTSC rules ban it from household trash. Use a bulky item pickup, the Upland City Yard drop-off, or a retailer take-back program.

The City Yard hazardous waste drop-off does not take refrigerators or air conditioners. Appliances are on the Burrtec bulky item list. Book it as part of a pickup, tell Burrtec it's a refrigerator, and confirm they'll take it.

Report it to City of Upland Code Enforcement or submit a Public Works request through the City website. Don't move items that could be hazardous yourself.

Sources

Where This Information Comes From

Program rules belong to the agencies that run them. Confirm hours and accepted items with them before you load up.

Too much for a curbside pickup?

Get Junk Removed in Upland, CA

Tell us what needs to go and where it is on the property, and we'll take it from there.

We lift it. We load it. We haul it away.