Fall leaves can go in a street pile for free weekly pickup in San José, if the pile meets the city’s rules
Piles must be 5 feet by 5 feet or smaller and set out no more than 24 hours ahead. Streets are swept once a month.
San José homeowners can rake fall leaves into a loose pile in the street for weekly pickup at no extra charge, according to the city’s Environmental Services Department. Residents who would rather use a yard-trimmings cart can order one for an added monthly fee from GreenWaste Recovery, the company that collects them, at (408) 283-4800.
The pile rules
- Keep each pile 5 feet by 5 feet or smaller.
- Place it at least 1 foot from the curb and 5 feet from carts, cars and other piles.
- Cut branches to under 5 feet long and under 6 inches thick.
- Keep piles and carts out of bike lanes and red-curb zones.
- Set out no more than 24 hours before pickup and no later than 6 a.m. on collection day.
- Afterward, sweep up what’s left; don’t pile it again until the next week.
- Don’t park on a pile, and keep yard trimmings out of garbage and recycling carts, where they can spoil recyclable paper.
Street sweeping
Sweepers clean residential streets once a month, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day after garbage pickup, the city says. Move your car by 6 a.m.: one parked car keeps about three car lengths of curb from being swept. Rake up leaves the sweeper misses and set them out on your next collection day.
The city says the leaves and branches it collects are turned into compost used by local farms, and that sweeping keeps more than 3,800 tons of oil, metals and debris a year out of storm drains, creeks and San Francisco Bay.
Find your days: Look up your yard-trimmings and sweeping days with the city’s Residential Services Lookup.
Source: City of San José Environmental Services: Yard Trimmings & Street Sweeping, checked Nov. 10, 2026.