Topics

Construction and Demolition Recycling

All building permits in Oakland require a Recycling Plan before they can be issued and a Summary Report before final inspection can be scheduled. Both are provided through the Green Halo website.

Legally Dispose of Your Junk

There are a lot of resources for getting rid of, and recycling, your old stuff in Oakland. We even offer a free pick up of bulky items like mattresses of refrigerators once a year!

Tree Services

The City of Oakland will only prune trees in hazardous or emergency situations. In 2008, nearly half of the Tree Services unit was eliminated due to lack of funding. The tree planting, watering, pruning and pollarding services were all eliminated.

Sanitary Sewers

Oakland Public Work’s Bureau of Design and Construction and Bureau of Maintenance and Internal Services owns and operates over 932 miles of sewer mains, ranging from six inches to over 66 inches in diameter, 28,554 sewer structures, and 11 pump stations. Most of the system is more than 50 years old, and some parts are as old as 100 years. Wastewater from homes and businesses is collected through the City's sewer collection system and flows into East Bay Municipal Utility District's (EBMUD) interceptor system, where it is conveyed to their treatment plant.

Buildings and Facilities Services

Public Works provides direct tenant services to a wide variety of client agencies, including custodial services, building engineering, security and access controls, air quality monitoring, emergency response and property management.

Park and Landscape Maintenance

We are responsible for the maintenance of parks, medians, waterfront trails and open space properties in Oakland. Visit Oakland Parks, Recreation, & Youth Development for information on classes, reserving facilities and other services.

Volunteer with Public Works

Volunteer to clean, green, and beautify Oakland! Each year thousands of people pitch in on a variety of projects such as litter and graffiti removal, landscaping, tree planting, habitat restoration, fire fuels management, and mosaic artwork installation. Public Works sponsors two annual City wide events for Oakland Earth Day and Oakland Creek to Bay Day. Public Works also supports MLK Day of Service, as well as volunteer projects throughout the year by groups and individuals looking to give back to their community.

MLK Day of Service- January 20, 2025

Join us this Martin Luther King Jr. Day for a day of action as we honor Dr. King’s legacy by giving back to our community through environmental stewardship and service!

Oakland Community Gardening Program

Oakland Parks & Recreation is gardening with a purpose, with 16 locations that bring people of all ages and diverse backgrounds together to grow organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers.

Battle For The Bay/Creek to Bay Day 2019

On September 21, 2019, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose challenged each other to a friendly competition as part of California Coastal Cleanup Day to see which city could engage the most volunteers and stage the biggest and most impactful cleanup. Projects included trash removal, habitat restoration, tree planting, and beautification. Oakland had a total of 55 registered volunteer sites throughout the City’s neighborhoods and coastline. With a record breaking 2,170 volunteers putting in more than 7,183 collective service hours, it was a great success for the Town. Together, Oaklanders picked up 109,460 pounds of trash, sorted 2,859 pounds of recyclables, cleared 37 storm drains, and cleaned 11 miles of shoreline! A huge thank you to the Oakland communities that came together on this day and showed some love to their neighborhoods.

Environmental Stewardship

Support of community stewardship of Oakland’s public spaces through volunteer cleaning, greening, and beautification.

Clean Lake Initiative

The City contracts with the non-profit Lake Merritt Institute to remove litter along the shoreline, maintain trash booms and aeration fountains, provide education for schools and businesses, and coordinate volunteers in these activities.

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