Green Waste Pick Up
Registration for the FREE GREEN WASTE PICK UP service is now closed!
Green Waste Collection will be offered twice in 2026, once in June and once in September.
Registration will open May 24th (deadline June 21st) and
August 23rd (deadline September 20th)
Please contact Burrtec/Mountain Disposal for bag pick up information for your area at 909-338-2417 or www.burrtec.com.
For more information about the changes in Burrtec's green waste (pine needles, leaves) collection, please see below for Supervisor Rowe's letter to her constituents regarding CA SB 1383, which led to Burrtec not being able to collect these materials in some areas. You can also reach out to Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh's office, https://sr19.senate.ca.gov/ for more information about the bill itself.
MRFSC's service is available to those Rim Community neighborhoods where the local waste management is no longer picking up bagged leaves, pine cones & pine needles.
MRFSC will only pick up bagged pine needles and leaves,
NO TRASH! There is a maximum of 20 bags. Bags may not weigh more than 40 lbs each.
This free service is thanks to a grant from CAL FIRE
and the California Climate Investments program*
Right to Refuse Service. Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council reserves the right to refuse and/or revoke service and/or financial assistance to anyone at our discretion and without details or reasons.
*The Green Waster Pick Up Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California. For more information, visit the California Climate Investments website at: www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov.”
From Supervisor Dawn Rowe 2023:
"My office has received a number of inquiries about a new state law that Mountain Disposal/Burrtec is being forced to implement. California Senate Bill 1383, which was signed into law by Governor Brown on September 19, 2016, prohibits waste haulers like Mountain Disposal/Burrtec from disposing of organic waste, including green waste, in a landfill (unless the organic waste is coming from a state-approved low population waiver area). Because of the what the state voted to do, it is now a state law that forces portions of the mountain communities to separate green waste (yard trimmings such as grass, branches, weeds, leaves, and pine needles) from their trash bins so the material can be processed and not disposed of in a landfill.
This is a state law that left no room for local control, and all counties are being forced by the State of California to comply. Because this law mandates the way haulers process organic waste, it has caused service fees to rise. The only way I can help reduce these fees is by working with our waste haulers to add green waste collection at the five Clean Mountain sites or the Mountain Disposal/Burrtec yard. Residents can also take their green waste to the County Transfer Station utilizing their "Disposal Land Use Permit Card.”
I realize this is not ideal and not all residents are able to load green waste and drop it at a facility on a regular basis. The County has worked with Mountain Disposal/Burrtec to provide an option for the handling of green waste with a voluntary, upon-request curbside program, which costs $27.56 per occurrence. These options were the most cost-effective way for residents to comply with this state law. The alternative would have increased the fees significantly more.
The state legislature passed this “one size fits all” law without additional funding and without fully understanding the implications on San Bernardino County, particularly our mountain communities. Our State Assemblyman Tom Lackey rightfully rejected the flawed law and voted no. State Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh was not in office when this law was passed in 2016.
Additionally, the Little Hoover Commission, a bi-partisan independent state agency, recently found that “successfully implementing this law would require additional funding and a more holistic approach to reducing landfill emissions.” They went further and called for a pause on its implementation until it could be done correctly. I agree with the commission: This law should be halted so that our mountain residents are not forced to pay exorbitant fees. I hope that the majority of state legislators who voted in favor of this bill will consider this sound analysis and reverse the negative impacts of this legislation.
This law has placed an undue burden on mountain residents, where fire danger is a grave concern. Our mountain communities are required to do fire hazard abatement which generates green waste to minimize fire hazard. The state should be passing laws to incentivize fuel reduction practices, not making it more difficult for residents to keep their communities safe.
As your County Supervisor, I will continue to work with our state partners, particularly Assemblyman Lackey and Senator Ochoa Bogh, to fight for alternatives. I want to thank them both for their leadership on this issue and hope that they can find a workable solution at the state level that doesn’t create unnecessary hardships for our mountain communities."