Dumpsters for Neighborhood Groups

If your neighborhood regularly works together through established City programs, you are eligible to reserve a 16 cubic-yard dumpster for free.

• Dumpster Program Brochure 
• Dumpster Program Application

Application tips:

• Complete all program qualifications before you submit your application.
• Submit your application at least 6 weeks before the day you want to receive the dumpster.
• Make sure to include a diagram of the dumpster drop-off location in the gridded area of application page 4.

When the program resumes, submit completed applications to:

Email (preferred): OES@cityofberkeley.info

Postal mail:
c/o OES/Dumpster Program
2100 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, 2nd Floor
Berkeley, CA 94704

Fax: (510) 981-5579

How to qualify for a dumpster

Berkeley residents who work together to plan for disasters can qualify by fulfilling the requirements listed in the application. They can choose either method to qualify for a dumpster, regardless of previous method of qualification:

• Method 1: Attend two presentations/events from the list below in the past 12 months: 
  • National Night Out (annually in August, neighborhood must pre-register)
  • Great Shake Out Earthquake Drill (annually in October, neighborhood must be registered)
  • Berkeley Ready Disaster Preparedness Presentation (email oes@cityofberkeley.info to request one in your neighborhood.)
  • Neighborhood Watch Meeting (all qualifying meetings must be scheduled with the Community Services Bureau (510-981-5805); meetings with other law enforcement agencies such as UC Berkeley PD also qualify as long as they are scheduled with the BPD Community Services Bureau)
• Method 2: Have a total of five neighborhood members, within the last 12 months, complete the Community Emergency Response (CERT) training defined as: 
  • Full CERT Academy OR
  • Single-Session CERT training (i.e. CERT Disaster Medical or Fire Safety)

The group must reside within a close geographic vicinity of each other to qualify. This program is available for residents of Berkeley, not commercial organizations.

Dumpster availability

When the program resumes, the City provides dumpsters to qualifying groups a maximum of once every fiscal year, which begins on July 1. The number of free dumpsters is limited by funding availability.

Dumpsters will be allocated in the order applications are received. If the number of requests for dumpsters exceeds the available funding, qualifying groups who do not receive a dumpster will be prioritized in the next year of the program.

Dumpsters for high fire danger areas

People living in the hazardous hills fire area can order a vegetation debris bin (30 cubic yards) for their neighborhood directly from the Customer Service Center (311 from a landline phone in Berkeley). There is no application needed.

The Fire Fuel Vegetation Bin Program is managed by the division of Forestry and requested directly from the Customer Service Center. Bins are only for vegetation debris.

Bulky waste pickup or individual dumpsters

There are no discounted/free programs for a single person or family looking for a dumpster for their own use. If you need to use a dumpster, you must pay for it or schedule bulky waste pickup.