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Marin Sanitary Service provides weekly garbage, recycling and compostables (food scrap, yard waste and food-soiled paper) collection services to residential customers (defined as households of less than four units) in San Rafael, San Anselmo, Ross, Kentfield, Kent Woodlands, Fairfax, Greenbrae, Larkspur and other unincorporated areas of Central Marin County. We currently service more than 30,000 residential accounts, almost one third of the population of Marin.
We’re dedicated to a better Marin, and work to promote recycling and diverting waste from our landfills in order to conserve natural resources and to reach our goal of zero waste. We’re not only a local business, we live here too.
Download our Residential Getting Started Guide and learn about services and resources available to you.
Residential customers are billed quarterly for garbage, recycling, and compostables collection services. Rates are determined by the size and number of landfill carts you have.
If you have questions about your bill, please contact customer support at (415) 456-2601.
In an effort to increase the speed of collection and to prevent injuries to our drivers, we are transition to a fully-automated truck fleet. This short video shows you how our trucks work. We think they’re pretty nifty, and hope you do too!
Residential customers enjoy a basic bundled service package that includes Garbage, Recycling and Compostables (food scrap, yard waste and food-soiled paper) collection services for one low rate.
Our residential 3-cart program provides one cart for garbage (landfill), one 64-gallon, split-cart for recycling, and one compostables cart for yard waste and food scraps/food soiled paper.
These are your options for residential carts:
When you set up service, a customer support representative will review the cart and size options with you.
Recycling bottles, cans, and containers on the brown side and paper products on the blue side.
Recycle yard trimmings, kitchen scraps and food-soiled paper in the green cart so they can be composted into rich soil amendment.
Everything put in the garbage goes directly to landfill.
Place all carts at the curb the night before your service day or before 6:00 a.m. the day of service. Fairfax residents should place carts at the curb the night before pick-up.
Cart and dumpster lids must close completely. Environmental regulations dictate that cart lids must be closed at all times to prevent spillage. Carts that are overloaded with lids open and/or overweight will be charged an additional fee. Carts that are consistently overloaded and not closed may indicate the need to upgrade to the next larger container size.
Remove any weights, bungee cords or ropes that were used to secure the lids of carts on your pick-up day. These can cause problems with the equipment and undue delays for the driver. We are not responsible for loss of bungee cords, ropes, etc.
Our carts are designed to be picked up by our fully-automated or semi-automated tipper arms on our collection trucks. This specialized arm allows for the weight of the cart to be lifted by the truck and not the driver, which helps keep the driver safe and the routes efficient. Customers who use their own containers for extra yard waste and/or recyclables MUST follow certain rules to have the materials collected (see Extras, Clean-ups, Bulky Items & Other Services).
All our carts have sturdy handles and wheels making the curbside set out process more convenient.
Moving can produce a lot of extra waste so we put together this quick reference guide to help you reduce, reuse, and move more sustainably.
Our customer support representatives are available Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (415) 456-2601.
What you need to know about California’s mandatory composting and recycling laws.
Use our online tool to find out what material goes in what cart.
Marin Sanitary Service offers residents the following cart sizes for each commodity type. All containers have sturdy handles and wheels making the curbside set out process more convenient. Please see Curbside Set Out Rules below for information about putting your carts out for collection.
When you set up service, a customer support representative will review the cart and size options with you. If you wish to change a cart size, please contact customer support at (415) 456-2601.
The 20 and 32 gallon carts appear to be the same size; however, the bottom of the 20 gallon cart has a raised bottom.
Please note that dimensions are approximate and based on the manufacturer may vary slightly from those listed.
