Dumpster & demolition glossary

67 terms you’ll run into renting a dumpster or planning a demolition in California.

Alternative management standards (AMS): The handling rules California uses for treated wood waste instead of the full hazardous waste rules. AB 332 (2021) wrote them into the Health & Safety Code (§25230 and following). They can't be repealed before January 1, 2030, and only if DTSC first tells the Legislature it's ready.
Asbestos survey: An inspection for asbestos before renovation or demolition. Rule 1403 says the building or components "shall be thoroughly surveyed" first; South Coast AQMD tells owners to hire a Cal/OSHA Certified Asbestos Consultant.
Asbestos-containing material (ACM): Under South Coast AQMD Rule 1403, material with more than 1% asbestos. The rule sorts it as friable, Class I nonfriable or Class II nonfriable.; See also: Friable asbestos, Nonfriable asbestos (Class I and II)
Bulky item: Large refuse such as appliances, furniture and auto parts (EPA's "bulky waste"). Many city trash haulers in Orange County offer free bulky-item pickup to residents.
Bye Bye Mattress: California's mattress recycling program. A retailer delivering a new mattress must offer to take the old one at no extra cost, and participating drop-off sites are free.
C-21 license: The California Contractors State License Board classification for building moving and demolition. Eco Waste Inc. holds C-21 license #947447.
Cable hoist: A roll-off truck that winches a container up onto its bed with a cable the driver hooks to the container by hand, pulled by a hydraulic system. One manufacturer notes cable hoists predominate in North American refuse and recycling fleets because the containers are built for them.
CALGreen: California's Green Building Standards Code (Title 24, Part 11). The 2025 edition, in effect since January 1, 2026, requires permitted new buildings and qualifying additions and alterations to recycle or salvage at least 65% of their nonhazardous construction and demolition waste (sections 4.408.1 residential, 5.408.1 nonresidential). The section is written for new work; many cities apply their own C&D ordinance to demolition permits too.; See also: Waste management plan (WMP), Diversion rate
Certified appliance recycler (CAR): A business certified by DTSC to remove special-handling materials from major appliances. A federally certified technician may remove refrigerant alone.
Certified Asbestos Consultant (CAC): An asbestos consultant certified by Cal/OSHA. South Coast AQMD directs owners to hire one for the survey before a demolition or renovation.
Clean brick: Brick with no trash, green waste or roots mixed in. Eco Waste charges a flat $950.
Clean concrete: Concrete with no rebar, no brick and no trash mixed in. It qualifies for Eco Waste's flat $775 concrete rate. No green waste or roots may go in a concrete load.
Clean dirt: Soil with nothing else mixed in: Eco Waste's $775 dirt rate. Dirt with concrete is the $950 mixed rate; dirt with trash is weighed and billed at debris rates.
Composite-lined landfill cell: A lined section of a solid waste landfill that meets the requirements for municipal solid waste. Under AB 332 it's the only place outside a hazardous waste landfill where treated wood waste may be disposed of.
Construction and demolition (C&D) debris: Waste from building, remodeling, repair and demolition: wood, drywall, concrete, asphalt, roofing, metal, flooring. EPA's definition also includes bridge construction and pavement.
Covered electronic waste (CEW): Under California's Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, a covered electronic device is a video display with a screen larger than 4 inches: CRT, LCD, plasma and OLED TVs and monitors, laptops, tablets and portable DVD players. A state recycling fee applies to them.
CRT: Cathode ray tube: the deep glass picture tube in older TVs and monitors. CRTs and CRT glass are two of California's universal waste categories.
Cubic yard: A volume 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, which is 27 cubic feet. Dumpster sizes (12, 20, 40 yard) are cubic yards of capacity.
CUPA: Certified Unified Program Agency: the local agency that runs CalEPA's Unified Program, covering hazardous waste generators, hazardous materials business plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground petroleum storage and accidental release prevention. CalEPA publishes a directory to find yours.
Demolition (Rule 1403): "The wrecking or taking out of any load-supporting structural member of a facility and related handling operations." Removing a load-supporting wall or beam counts as demolition, even inside a remodel.
Diversion rate: The share of waste kept out of the landfill by recycling, reuse or composting, compared with the total. CALGreen asks covered construction and demolition projects for at least 65%.
Dumpster bag: A heavy woven bag you fill yourself; we pick it up when it's full. Eco Waste's holds 4 cubic yards (7 × 4 × 4 ft) and up to 2,000 lb: $29 for the bag, $279 for pickup, and $179 for each extra bag picked up on the same pickup, up to 3 bags a pickup.
E-waste: Unwanted electronic equipment: TVs, computers, phones, printers, game consoles and the like. California bans electronic devices from the trash, and Eco Waste's rules say no electronics in the dumpster. OC's HHW centers take e-waste free from residents.; See also: Covered electronic waste (CEW)
Encroachment permit: Permission from a city (or OC Public Works in unincorporated areas) to place something, like a dumpster, in the public street or sidewalk.
Fill line: A line inside the bin marking how full a heavy load (concrete, dirt, brick) may go. Eco Waste's heavy-load rates cover 10 cubic yards to the fill line.; See also: Heavy load
Franchise hauler: A waste hauler a city or county has authorized to collect in its area. Public Resources Code §40059 lets each local agency decide whether service is by nonexclusive, partially exclusive or wholly exclusive franchise, contract, license or permit, so rules for roll-off service vary by city.
Friable asbestos: Asbestos-containing material (more than 1% asbestos) that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure (SCAQMD Rule 1403).
Gate rate: The posted price a landfill or transfer station charges at the scale for customers who pay as they come. At OC's county landfills it's per ton, with flat charges for cars and pickups under set weights. It's the number to compare against a dumpster when you're thinking of hauling it yourself.
Green waste: Yard trimmings: branches, leaves, grass, brush, prunings and weeds. Eco Waste prices green waste like debris ($650 up to 3 tons in a 12 to 25 yard bin), but it may never go in a concrete or brick load. Ask us about stumps and sod, since the soil on them is weighed with the load.; See also: Organic waste
Hazardous waste: Discarded products that contain potentially hazardous materials and need special care. CalRecycle: "It is illegal to dispose of hazardous waste in the garbage, down storm drains, or onto the ground." Eco Waste's rules: no hazardous materials in the dumpster.; See also: Household hazardous waste (HHW), Universal waste
Heavy load: A bin of clean concrete, clean dirt, dirt and concrete, or clean brick. Eco Waste charges these flat, in 12 to 25 yard bins only, filled to the 10-yard fill line: $775 for concrete or dirt, $950 mixed, $950 for brick.; See also: Fill line, Clean concrete, Clean dirt, Clean brick
Hook-lift: A truck with a hydraulic arm and hook that connects to the container and loads or unloads it, operated from the cab. The same chassis can swap between different bodies.
Household hazardous waste (HHW): Leftover household products with hazardous ingredients: paint, cleaners, stains and varnishes, pesticides, car batteries, motor oil. They can't go in a dumpster. Orange County's four HHW centers (Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Irvine, San Juan Capistrano) take them free from residents, tuesday through saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., up to 15 gallons or 125 lb per trip.
Landfill: A permitted site for permanent disposal of solid waste on or in the land (EPA). Orange County's three active county landfills are Olinda Alpha (Brea), Frank R. Bowerman (Irvine, commercial customers only) and Prima Deshecha (San Juan Capistrano).
Loose vs in-place yards: In-place (or bank) cubic yards measure material where it sits: a slab, a planter, soil in the ground. Loose cubic yards measure it after it's dug or broken up. Dumpsters fill with loose yards.; See also: Swell factor
Major appliance: Under California law, any domestic or commercial device including, but not limited to, a washer, dryer, water heater, dehumidifier, oven, microwave, stove, refrigerator, freezer, air conditioner, trash compactor or residential furnace (DTSC).; See also: Materials that require special handling (MRSH), White goods
Materials Exchange: OC Waste & Recycling's free reuse program: Orange County residents can take home up to 5 partly used household, yard and car-care products a week.
Materials recovery facility (MRF): A plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for sale to manufacturers (EPA).
Materials that require special handling (MRSH): The parts that must come out of a major appliance before it's crushed or landfilled (Health & Safety Code §25212): refrigerants, PCB capacitors, compressor and other oils, mercury switches, circuit boards.
Mixed load: A bin holding more than one kind of material. Eco Waste has one mixed heavy rate, dirt and concrete ($950 to the fill line). Otherwise any trash mixed with dirt, concrete, brick or green waste is weighed and billed at debris rates, and mixed loads go to the landfill.
Municipal solid waste: Everyday waste from homes, businesses, institutions and government. EPA's definition of solid waste covers durable and non-durable goods, containers and packaging, food scraps, yard trimmings and construction and demolition debris.
Nonfriable asbestos (Class I and II): Class I nonfriable material is more than 1% asbestos and can be broken, crumbled or powdered during demolition or renovation. Class II is all other asbestos-containing material that is neither friable nor Class I (SCAQMD Rule 1403).
Organic waste: SB 1383's regulations (14 CCR 18982) define it broadly: food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products and more. CalRecycle says organics like food scraps, yard trimmings, paper and cardboard make up half of what Californians send to landfills.; See also: Green waste, SB 1383
Overage (tonnage): Weight over what the rental includes. Eco Waste bills $135 per additional ton, rounded to the nearest ton.; See also: Weight ticket
PaintCare: California's paint stewardship program. Its drop-off sites take house paint, primers, stains, sealers and clear coats free, in original containers up to 5 gallons, but not aerosols, thinners or solvents. PaintCare's fee on new paint runs from $0 to $1.50 per container, by size.
Red line: The line inside an Eco Waste dumpster that the load shouldn't go above. Our rate sheet: overfilled (above the red line), additional charges may apply.
Renovation (Rule 1403): "The altering of a facility or the removing or stripping of one or more facility components in any way." Pulling up flooring or ceiling texture is renovation under the rule.
Rental period: How long the bin stays. Eco Waste's rate is a 2-week rental, then $15 for each additional day unless other arrangements have been made.
Roll-off dumpster: An open-top steel container that a truck sets down and picks up with a hydraulic hoist, rolling it on and off the truck's bed. Sized by the cubic yards it holds. EPA calls it a container that "can be dropped off and picked hydraulically."; See also: Roll-off truck, Cubic yard
Roll-off truck: The truck that delivers and picks up roll-off containers with a hydraulic hoist. The two common kinds are the cable hoist and the hook-lift.; See also: Cable hoist, Hook-lift
RRP rule (lead paint): EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule: anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in homes, child care facilities and preschools built before 1978 must be certified. Homeowners working on their own home aren't covered.
SB 1383: California's 2016 short-lived climate pollutant law. Its targets for 2025: 75% less organic waste sent to landfills, and 20% of unsold, still-edible food sent to food recovery organizations. CalRecycle's regulations took effect January 1, 2022.; See also: Organic waste
SCAQMD Rule 1403: South Coast AQMD's asbestos rule for demolition and renovation, which applies in Orange County. The building or component must be surveyed for asbestos first, and the district notified 10 working days before work begins. Some small residential jobs are exempt.; See also: Asbestos survey, Asbestos-containing material (ACM)
Self-haul: Taking your own waste to a landfill or transfer station. Of Orange County's landfills, Olinda Alpha and Prima Deshecha take the public; Frank R. Bowerman takes commercial customers only.
Sharps: Needles, syringes, lancets and pen needles. California law bans home-generated sharps from trash and recycling containers; OC's HHW centers take them in a puncture-resistant container with a tight lid.
Soil testing (landfill): OC landfills require a soil information form and pre-testing for soil loads over 5 cubic yards or 8 tons. Smaller loads skip the testing, but Olinda Alpha and Frank R. Bowerman take clean soil only; Prima Deshecha takes all soil.
Source separation: Keeping materials apart where they're generated so each can be collected separately (EPA). On a job site, that's a bin just for concrete, or just for green waste.
Swell factor: How much a material grows in volume once it's dug up or broken apart. A dig or a demolished slab takes more room loose in a dumpster than it measured in the ground.
Tipping fee: The fee for unloading waste at a landfill, transfer station, incinerator or recycling facility (EPA). OC Waste & Recycling publishes its landfill fees each fiscal year.
Ton: In US dumpster pricing, a short ton: 2,000 pounds. Eco Waste includes 3 tons in the 12 to 25 yard rate and 5 tons in the 40 yard rate.
Transfer station: A facility where waste is unloaded from smaller trucks or cars and reloaded into larger vehicles for the trip to a landfill or processor (EPA).
Treated wood waste (TWW): Discarded wood treated with a chemical preservative against insects, fungi and decay: fence posts, deck framing, landscape timbers, railroad ties, pilings. Under AB 332 it may only go to a hazardous waste landfill or a composite-lined landfill cell, so it can't go in a regular dumpster load. In Orange County, Prima Deshecha Landfill lists it for the public.; See also: Alternative management standards (AMS), Composite-lined landfill cell
Universal waste: Hazardous waste from everyday products that contain mercury, lead, cadmium and similar substances. DTSC's eight categories: batteries, electronic waste, CRTs, CRT glass, lamps, mercury wastes, non-empty aerosol cans and solar (PV) modules. DTSC: they "cannot be discarded in household trash nor disposed of in landfills."; See also: E-waste
Waste management plan (WMP): A plan a building department may ask for, showing how a project's construction and demolition waste will be recycled, reused or disposed of, then documented. It's one of the ways to show CALGreen's 65% (sections 4.408.2 and 5.408.1.1).
Waste tire hauler: A hauler registered with CalRecycle. State law requires a registration for anyone transporting 10 or more used or waste tires. Tires can't go in an Eco Waste dumpster.
Weight ticket: The scale receipt a landfill or transfer station issues for a load. It's how tonnage is billed and how a permitted project proves its recycling: OC Waste & Recycling's C&D program asks applicants to save disposal receipts and turn them in with a tonnage report.
White goods: Large household appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners and washing machines (EPA).

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