Free junk pickup in Ventura County, city by city

How free bulky item pickup works

Bulky item pickup is part of the trash service most homes already pay for. You call the hauler or request it online, they give you a date, and you set the items at the curb that morning. A truck picks them up separately from your carts.

What counts as a bulky item is fairly standard: furniture, mattresses, carpets and large appliances, the things too big for the trash cart. The City of Ventura defines bulky items as discarded large household appliances, furniture, tires, carpets, mattresses and similar large items that need special handling because of their size.

The limits are where cities differ: how many pickups a year, how many items per pickup, and what extra items cost. The service is for the household that pays for it, which usually means single-family homes. Apartments and condos often have their own arrangements through the building’s service, so ask your manager.

Two rules apply almost everywhere: the items have to be at the curb, not inside the house or in the backyard, and they have to be on the list. Construction debris, dirt, rock and hazardous waste are left behind.

Plan ahead, because pickup dates are often a week or more out once you call, and the free pickups reset each year. If you know a big cleanout is coming, use one pickup early in the year for the large pieces and save the other for later, rather than spending both on a couple of items in January.

City of Ventura

Ventura residential customers can have four bulky items collected during two pickups a year without charge (City of Ventura bulky item collection). Pickups are requested through E.J. Harrison, the city’s trash hauler, by phone or online.

The city asks residents not to set mattresses, furniture or appliances at the curb with the trash bins. Put them out only for a scheduled bulky pickup. It also suggests donating furniture and appliances that are still usable to local secondhand stores before throwing them out.

For mattresses, the city points to Bye Bye Mattress and says Gold Coast Recycling and Transfer Station recycles one mattress set a year free for City of Ventura residents. Tires can go to many tire stores for a fee, or to Gold Coast for recycling at a fee. Our Ventura page has the rest of the city’s rules.

The city also runs a Safe and Clean hotline to report bulky items left in public places, blocking storm drains or in the street.

Free bulky pickup is the cheapest way to get rid of one couch. It is not built for a garage, a remodel or a deadline.

Oxnard

Oxnard runs its own trash service. All qualified residential service includes one free curbside bulky item collection a year, of up to five household items (City of Oxnard). More pickups of up to five items can be requested for a fee per request.

The city says items must be placed at the curb, not on private property such as porches and driveways, and that extra fees apply for hard to handle items, tires and freon extraction from appliances.

Oxnard also holds neighborhood drop-off days at the Del Norte Regional Recycling and Transfer Station, where residents can bring bulky items, trash and unwanted items (Oxnard neighborhood drop-off days). Check the city’s schedule for dates and what to bring.

With only one free pickup a year, many Oxnard households use it up quickly. Our Oxnard page covers the city’s other drop-off options.

Thousand Oaks and Camarillo

City of Thousand Oaks residents can request up to two free bulky item collections for a total of six items a calendar year, scheduled online or by phone with Athens Services (City of Thousand Oaks). Residents in unincorporated areas around the city are directed to the County of Ventura instead.

The city lists what it won’t take as bulky items: construction debris such as dirt, concrete, tile, drywall and rock, and hazardous waste such as antifreeze, cleaning products, paint, pesticides, pool chemicals and solvents. It points residents to its construction and demolition and household hazardous waste pages for those.

In Camarillo, Ventura County Public Works says the city’s hauler, E.J. Harrison and Sons, provides free bulky item pickup to residents (Ventura County Public Works). Call the hauler for the current number of pickups and items.

In Simi Valley and Moorpark, ask your trash hauler about bulky pickups. Residents there can also use the Simi Valley Landfill’s free landfill days when they are scheduled (WM landfill days).

Unincorporated areas: Oak View, Piru and the county

Outside city limits, trash service is set up by the county. Ventura County says single-family customers get up to three free bulky item pickups a year under its residential collection agreements (Ventura County FAQ).

Two companies provide trash, recycling and organics service in the unincorporated areas, and the county has an interactive map showing which one serves your address (Ventura County residential recycling). Call that hauler to schedule a pickup.

That covers places like Oak View, Piru, the Ojai Valley outside the city of Ojai, Somis and the Santa Rosa Valley. For household hazardous waste, unincorporated residents use the county’s collection events at the Pollution Prevention Center in Ventura and the Santa Clara River Valley facility in Fillmore (Ventura County hazardous waste).

Our Oak View page explains the county rules that apply there, including brush clearance.

If you are not sure whether you live in a city or the unincorporated county, your property tax bill or the county’s interactive trash provider map will tell you. Addresses with a city name in them aren’t always inside that city.

Santa Barbara County and donating first

On the Santa Barbara County side, the county’s recycling site says to call your trash hauler about bulky item collection, and that most haulers offer one or two free pickups a year (LessIsMore.org). It also notes that some retailers will recycle your old appliance when you buy a new one, which is often the easiest way to get rid of a working fridge or washer.

Before anything goes to the curb, think about donation. The City of Ventura suggests donating gently used furniture and appliances to local secondhand stores instead of hauling them to the dump (City of Ventura), and the county lists Goodwill Industries of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties as taking e-waste for free at several stores (Ventura County e-waste).

Donation saves one of your free pickups for the things that can’t be reused, and it keeps good furniture out of the landfill. Call the store first: most turn down stained or torn upholstery, mattresses and anything broken, and larger pieces may need a store with room for them.

Mattresses can go free to Bye Bye Mattress collection sites through the state program, so they don’t have to use up a bulky pickup at all.

What free pickup won’t take

Every program has limits. The common ones:

• Anything not at the curb. Haulers don’t go into the house, the garage or the backyard.
• More than the item limit. Extra items wait for the next pickup or cost extra.
• Construction and remodel debris. Drywall, tile, concrete, dirt, rock, lumber and roofing.
• Hazardous waste. Paint, chemicals, pool supplies, oil, batteries and fluorescent bulbs.
• E-waste, in many programs, which goes to e-waste drop-offs instead.
• Yard waste piles too big for the green cart.

For remodel debris, see our debris removal page. For hazardous waste and e-waste, our guide to the dumps and drop-offs in Ventura County lists where your city’s residents can take each kind.

Another rule people miss: items left at the curb without a scheduled pickup can count as illegal dumping, and cities can fine for it. Schedule first, then set things out.

When paying a hauler makes more sense

Free pickup is the cheapest answer for one couch or one old washer that can sit at the curb until the date comes. It stops making sense when:

• the free pickups for the year are used up,
• the pile is bigger than the item limit,
• the junk is inside, upstairs or in the backyard and nobody can move it to the curb,
• there is a deadline, like a move-out walkthrough or a closing,
• it is mixed with remodel debris or yard waste,
• or you live in an apartment or HOA without curbside bulky service.

That is where junk removal comes in. We carry it out from wherever it is, sort what goes to separate places, and haul it in one visit. Our post on what junk removal costs explains how the price is set, and the estimate is free: call or text photos to (805) 794-2842.