Some of the worst, most pervasive littering in Oakland is bulk litter, with large items like couches, beds, and giant trash bags piling up along the sides of roads for months at a time.
In recent years, fed-up residents have emailed The Oaklandside with complaints about this type of litter and their futile attempts to remove it themselves, calling it a “never-ending,” “thankless job” for which the city has “no solution.”
In an attempt to improve the situation, the city this week announced that Bulky Block Parties, events where anyone in Oakland can drop off their trash lots once a quarter, are back.
In a press release this week, the Oakland Public Works department announced that four of these Bulky Block Parties will occur over the next year, with the first on July 25. Successive events will occur on October 24, 2026; January 23, 2027; and April 24, 2027. All of them will take place at 7101 Edgewater Drive, in East Oakland, across the I-880 freeway from the Oakland Coliseum.
To drop off bulk items, residents must show personal identification, such as a driver’s license, and a piece of official mail, such as an energy bill, that shows their Oakland residential address. The city says businesses are not eligible to participate in this program.
Items accepted include not just bedroom and living room furniture but also mattresses, electronics like televisions, major appliances like old washing machines, and other household items.
Not all types of bulk items are allowed. Hazardous materials (such as motor oils) won’t be accepted. For any questions about prohibited items, the city recommends emailing its recycling department at recycling@oaklandca.gov or calling (510) 238-7283.
“Oakland’s Bulky Block Parties give residents another free, convenient option to keep these items out of our neighborhoods and demonstrates our continued commitment to making Oakland the cleanest, safest and greenest!” Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement.
Some of the bulky items that were dropped off by Oakland residents in 2018 included couches and trophies. Credit: City of Oakland
In addition to this public program, Oakland residents, both renters and homeowners, are entitled to one annual “bulky” pickup a year at their residence at no cost. To schedule this pickup, residents can call 1-888-WM-BULKY or request an appointment on-line. Single-family homes can schedule a second bully pickup as long as at least 45 days have passed since the last one.
According to a city of Oakland audit on waste management published earlier this year, most people who live in multi-family units do not use their allotted appointments, which may be contributing to excessive trash on the streets. That report found that less than 2% of eligible multi-family units have used the service. That same report found that in 2025, Oakland received over 25,000 clean-up requests related to illegal dumping, many of them for bulky items.
The forthcoming bulky pickup series marks the second time the city has run the program. The first time, the program ran from 2018 to 2024.
Residents will be assisted by Oakland staff at the drop-off locations. Credit: City of Oakland
The city announced the block party’s restart on Instagram, using digital flyers in multiple languages, including Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, to reach residents who may want to participate. According to city records and a UCLA academic analysis, about 13,000 Oakland residents are Spanish-speaking with limited English, while a 2022 Bay Area Equity Atlas study found that one in five Asian or Pacific Islander households are “linguistically isolated” and don’t speak English “very well,” which could amount to nearly 4,000 people in Oakland.
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