Gray Bin (Trash)
All domestic garbage items must fit completely loose inside the gray cart with the lid resting flat. Extra trash bags or loose clutter left next to the container will not be handled by automated arms.
Accepted Items
- ✓Unrecyclable plastic snack bags and multi-layer chip films
- ✓Diapers, personal facial wipes, and sanitary products
- ✓Dog feces and cat litter sealed securely in bags
- ✓Broken home glass fragments, mirror shards, and ceramics
- ✓Waxed cardboard components and single-use coffee cups
- ✓Worn-out rags, textiles, and composite trash elements
Blue Bin (Recycling)
All dry recyclables must be placed into the blue container loose, empty, dry, and entirely unbagged. Small paper fragments or shredded documents must be enclosed inside a paper bag to contain shreds.
Accepted Items
- ✓Clean aluminum soda cans, tin food cans, and aluminum foil
- ✓Glass bottles and food jars of all colors (rinsed empty)
- ✓Rigid plastic containers, jugs, and tubs labeled #1 through #7
- ✓Flattened dry corrugated cardboard shipping boxes and paperboard
- ✓Newspapers, magazines, junk mail, catalogs, and white office papers
- ✓Clean Styrofoam block packaging, cups, and trays (no packing peanuts)
Do NOT Include
- ✕Loose flimsy plastic grocery sacks or heavy stretch wrap films
- ✕Polystyrene loose packing peanuts
- ✕Food-stained pizza boxes or greasy paper liners
- ✕Electronic component parts or household consumer batteries
- ✕Textiles, clothes, towels, or old household carpets
Yard Waste Bin
Organics and kitchen scraps must be mixed completely loose within the green cart. Enclosing organic material or food leftovers in traditional plastic, compostable, or biodegradable bags is strictly barred.
Accepted Items
- ✓Fresh lawn clippings, weeds, ivy, and grass thatch
- ✓Dry garden leaves, flowers, shrub prunings, and twigs
- ✓Tree branches and palm fronds under weight/size limits
- ✓Household food scraps, cooked meat scraps, bones, and dairy remnants
- ✓Food-soiled paper napkins, paper towels, and greasy pizza boxes
Bulky Item Pickup
Frequency
2 pickups per calendar year (Up to 3 items per pickup)
Placement
Oversized bulk items must be positioned neatly at the street curb edge by 6:00 AM on the day of your approved collection appointment. Do not block active roadway traffic, pedestrian sidewalks, or access to automated carts.
Accepted
- ✓ Large home furniture (sofas, chairs, tables, mattresses)
- ✓ Major household appliances (refrigerators, washers, dryers, water heaters)
- ✓ Consumer electronics and television sets (e-waste)
- ✓ Other large objects that can be handled safely by two persons
Not Accepted
- ✕ Commercial liquid chemicals or industrial hazardous waste
- ✕ Loose construction demolition debris (concrete blocks, drywall panels)
- ✕ Intact car bodies or heavy automotive components
- ✕ General loose trash bags stacked uncontained
Once a household exhausts their two free annual allocations, additional bulky item collection runs can be coordinated through EDCO for an established service handling fee.
Holiday Schedule
General Rule
When a major observed calendar holiday occurs on a scheduled weekday, the collection route for that holiday and all remaining pickup days for the rest of that week will be delayed by exactly one business day. Regular Friday neighborhood routes are completed on Saturday. Regular schedules remain unaffected if the holiday falls before your regular collection day.
Yard Waste Exception
Green organic waste and recycling collection schedules follow the identical one-day delay structure implemented for regular trash during holiday service shifts.
Holidays that fall naturally on a Saturday or Sunday trigger no changes, keeping the standard weekday residential pickup routines completely on time. Service continues normally on minor holidays like Presidents' Day or Veterans Day.
Observed Holidays
!Contamination Tips
Ditch All Types of Plastic Bags in Green Bins
Never place food waste or yard debris inside plastic bags or bags labeled as 'certified compostable' or 'biodegradable'. These materials do not break down in local anaerobic digesters and contaminate the batch; use paper bags instead.
Keep Plastic Film Wrap out of Blue Containers
Flimsy grocery sacks and stretch wraps twist tightly around the rotating mechanical sorting conveyor screens at the regional recovery plant. Place all recyclables into the blue cart loose and put films into the gray trash bin.
Secure Styrofoam Form Blocks but Exclude Peanuts
EDCO accepts rigid Styrofoam block packaging, foam egg cartons, and clean foam plates inside the blue recycling barrel. However, loose foam packing peanuts are banned because they escape trucks and turn into litter.
Seasonal Information
Summer Organic Odor Suppression
June to SeptemberHigh San Diego County summer temperatures accelerate food decomposition, creating heavy odors inside green organics carts. To control flies, keep your organic bin in a shaded spot, ensure the lid is tight, and layer kitchen scrap fractions beneath dry yard trimmings.
Post-Holiday Christmas Tree Mulching
December to JanuaryNatural Christmas trees are collected curbside on regular collection days for the first two consecutive weeks following the holidays. Residents must strip away all tinsel, metallic stands, lights, and ornaments. Flocked trees are excluded from compost lines.
Winter Canyon Run-off Protections
November to MarchDuring heavy seasonal rain events, ensure all curbside bins are placed securely on level pavement and not positioned in active street gutter channels. Keeping neighborhood storm paths clear prevents trash from washing into regional watersheds.
About Spring Valley Waste Management
Unincorporated Sanitation Logistics Framework in Spring Valley
Because Spring Valley is a large unincorporated census-designated place within San Diego County, residential solid waste extraction, resource recycling loops, and organics processing are governed directly by county ordinances rather than a centralized municipal department. Services are executed under a long-standing county franchise system by EDCO Waste & Recycling Services. This framework delivers organized weekly routing throughout dense urban grids and semi-rural hillsides, enforcing uniform alignment with strict California eco-targets.
Navigating the Three-Container Curbside Extraction System
Every standard household account in Spring Valley utilizes a standardized three-cart color layout to optimize landfill diversion right at the curb. EDCO issues a gray rolling barrel dedicated strictly to unrecyclable domestic refuse, a blue cart for commingled clean packaging materials, and a green barrel engineered for organic landscape waste and raw kitchen scraps. All three residential containers are emptied concurrently on your assigned neighborhood service morning, requiring residents to sort materials at the home level.
Automated Placement Guidelines and Community Safety Standards
To ensure safe operation by EDCO's automated mechanical truck arms, specific set-out constraints must be observed. All rolling bins must be moved to the street pavement curb line by 6:00 AM on scheduled extraction days. Containers must stand upright facing the open street with wheels resting against the curb. Maintaining a minimum clear boundary radius around individual carts—leaving them free of parked cars, neighborhood mailboxes, low-hanging branches, and utility lines—is required to eliminate skipped services.
California State Senate Bill 1383 Composting Compliance
In strict compliance with California's landmark SB 1383 climate mandates, source-separating organic matter is a legal requirement for Spring Valley residents. The green residential barrel processes landscape trimmings alongside everyday household food scraps, leftovers, plate waste, and food-soiled paper goods. Diverting these biological fractions away from regional landfills actively prevents the generation of methane gas and transforms kitchen leftovers into bio-nutrients.
Drop-off Facilities
EDCO Station Buyback & Recycling Center
8184 Commercial St, La Mesa, CA 91942
Materials Accepted
Rancho San Diego Sheriff's Station (Drop-off Box)
11486 Campo Rd, Spring Valley, CA 91978
Materials Accepted
Frequently Asked Questions
Who provides residential trash pickup services in Spring Valley?
Because Spring Valley is an unincorporated community within San Diego County, waste management is administered via county franchise agreements. Curbside services are executed by EDCO Waste & Recycling Services.
How do Spring Valley residents schedule a free bulky waste pickup?
Residents can schedule their two annual free bulk collections by calling EDCO customer service directly at 619-287-7555 or filling out the digital booking request form on the official EDCO website.
Where can I safely dispose of hazardous home items like oil, paint, and batteries?
Household hazardous waste (HHW) is strictly banned from curbside rolling carts. Residents can schedule a free drop-off appointment at regional county-sponsored hazardous collection facilities by calling 1-877-R-1-EARTH or checking the WasteFreeSD portal.
What is the proper way to recycle small medical sharps or needles?
California law strictly prohibits disposing of medical lancets or syringes inside standard trash or recycling bins. Spring Valley residents must pack home-generated sharps inside an approved, puncture-resistant biohazard container and locate an official county drop-off kiosk or drop site.