Burrtec, Franchise Hauling & Self-Haul: The San Bernardino Rules

Here is a piece of San Bernardino local knowledge that confuses a lot of people and that most national booking sites will never mention: the City has an exclusive waste-hauling franchise. Understanding it saves confusion, and it is not the obstacle it first appears.

A rule worth understanding first

Unlike many places where any licensed hauler can drop a bin anywhere, San Bernardino grants one company the exclusive right to haul trash and non-hazardous waste within the city limits. That has real implications for how construction and demolition debris is handled, and it is worth understanding before you book anything.

It sounds restrictive. In practice, for the work most people are doing, there is a clear and legitimate path.

What an exclusive franchise means

Under the City's franchise agreement, Burrtec Waste holds the exclusive franchise for hauling trash and non-hazardous waste within San Bernardino. For routine, ongoing waste service, that is the arrangement.

The intent is orderly, accountable waste management across the city, with diversion tracked and the system consistent. Whatever one thinks of exclusive franchises, that is the rule San Bernardino operates under, and a company working here has to work within it rather than pretend it does not exist.

The self-haul exception

Here is the part that matters for construction and demolition work. Covered C&D projects are allowed to self-haul their own debris - meaning the property owner or the contractor doing the work can haul the project's own debris - provided they do so under a City-approved Waste Management Plan.

What covered projects cannot do is contract that hauling out to a non-franchised commercial hauler for ongoing trash service. The distinction is between self-hauling your own project debris (allowed, with a plan) and using a non-franchised hauler as your general trash service (reserved to the franchise).

No self-haul project gets its permit approved without an approved Waste Management Plan, so the two rules - self-haul and the 65 percent diversion plan - go together.

What this means for homeowners

For a homeowner doing a project on their own private property, this is mostly straightforward. A garage cleanout, a room remodel, a yard clearance on your own lot generally falls outside the ongoing-trash-service rules that the franchise governs. You can have a roll-off for that work.

Where a homeowner's project is a covered construction or demolition job requiring a building permit, the diversion and self-haul rules come into play, and the debris needs handling under a Waste Management Plan. The dividing line is the permit and the scale of the work, not simply whether you own the house.

What this means for contractors

For contractors, the rules are part of doing business in San Bernardino. On a covered project you either use the City's franchised hauler, or you self-haul the project's own debris under an approved Waste Management Plan. You cannot bring in a non-franchised hauler for general service.

The self-haul route is well-trodden and entirely legitimate, and it is often the more flexible option for a job with its own schedule and diversion strategy. The key is that the WMP is filed and approved before the permit issues.

How we fit in

We work within these rules rather than around them. We support self-haul construction and demolition work under an approved Waste Management Plan, and residential projects on private property. We route to permitted recycling facilities that document the diversion your plan requires, and we help you understand which category your particular project falls into.

What we will always do is give you a straight answer about what applies to your job. If your project needs to go through the franchised hauler, we will tell you. If self-haul under a WMP is the right route, we will support it. The worst outcome is finding out at inspection that the debris was handled wrongly, and a local company that knows the system keeps you clear of that.

The bottom line

San Bernardino's exclusive franchise is real, but it does not mean you cannot get a roll-off for legitimate work. Homeowners on private property generally can; covered construction and demolition projects can self-haul their own debris under an approved Waste Management Plan. The thing to do is call and describe your project, so the right route is clear before you start rather than discovered at permit sign-off.