Trash & Recycling in Pacifica, CA (2026)
7 verified trash & recycling rules for Pacifica, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Pickup Rules & Schedules
Pacifica Municipal Code Section 6-5.105 requires the scavenger to empty garbage containers at least once each week, and lets the City order a higher pickup frequency when a property's waste volume outgrows the subscribed service level.
Pacifica Garbage Pickup Frequency Rules
Some RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 6-5.105
The contents of garbage containers shall be delivered not less than once each week to the scavenger authorized by the City to collect garbage in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the franchise agreement between the City and the scavenger however, the City may require a higher frequency of collection beyond the subscribed or regularly scheduled service, if the frequency of colle...
Bin Placement Rules
Pacifica Municipal Code Section 6-5.106 requires garbage receptacles to stay in a protected area on the property except for a twelve-hour window before and after the scheduled collection day, and bars placing them in a street, alley, or public place so as to create a nuisance.
Pacifica Garbage Cart Placement and Set-Out Times
Some RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 6-5.106
All garbage receptacles shall be located in such a place as to be readily accessible for removing and emptying the receptacles in accordance with the provisions of the franchise agreement between the City and the scavenger. Such receptacles shall not be placed within the limits of any street, road, avenue, way, alley, public place, or other place so as to constitute a nuisance. All garbage rece...
Recycling Requirements
Pacifica Municipal Code Section 6-5.203 establishes a citywide recyclable materials collection program available to every person, residence, business, and institution, run under an exclusive contract with the City's authorized recycling agent per Section 6-5.205.
Pacifica Recyclable Materials Collection Program
Some RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 6-5.203
(a)A recyclable materials collection service program is established and shall be available to all persons, residences, businesses and institutions in the City for the purpose of providing for the orderly and regular collection of recyclable materials within the City. Creation and operation of this collection program does not preclude the operation of certified recycling centers created pursuant...
Mandatory Organics Recycling
Pacifica Municipal Code Section 6-5.703 requires every single-family household to subscribe to the City's organic waste collection service and sort food waste and yard trimmings into a green container, recyclables into a blue container, and everything else into a gray container, with fines up to $500 per repeat violation under Section 6-5.712.
Pacifica Mandatory Organic Waste Separation
Significant RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 6-5.703
Single-family organic waste generators shall comply with the following requirements: A.Shall subscribe to city's organic waste collection services for all organic waste generated as described in subsection B below. ... B.Shall participate in the city's organic waste collection service(s) by placing designated materials in designated containers as described below, and shall not place prohibited ...
Illegal Dumping
In the City of Pacifica, it is unlawful to throw, deposit or accumulate litter on any public place or private premises, or to dump anything into San Pedro, Calera, Milagra or Big Inch Creek or the Crespi Channel, under Pacifica Municipal Code § 5-9.03. The City Manager can order cleanup and bill the property owner if it isn't done.
Pacifica Illegal Dumping and Litter Law
Some RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 5-9.03
No person shall throw, deposit, or accumulate litter in or upon any public place or private premises within the City except while such person is temporarily engaged in clearing such public place or private premises of litter or improving such public place or private premises. No person shall throw or deposit, or cause to be thrown or deposited, into any channel or bed or bank of San Pedro Creek...
Collection Schedule
In the City of Pacifica, every residential unit and every occupied hotel, motel, apartment house, rooming house, or business premises must subscribe to and pay for refuse collection under Pacifica Municipal Code Section 6-5.103. New residents have fifteen days after moving in to set up service with the city's contracted scavenger.
Pacifica Mandatory Trash Collection Service
Some RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 6-5.103
(a)The owner of each and every residential unit, and each and every occupied hotel, motel, apartment house, and rooming house, and each and every premises occupied for business, commercial, or industrial use shall subscribe to and pay for refuse collection services as provided in this chapter. ... (c)The scavenger shall provide with each regular billing information on the more common refuse col...
Recycling Rules
Pacifica Municipal Code Section 6-5.207 requires residents in the Pacifica Recycling Program to separate recyclables from garbage and place receptacles at curbside no more than twelve hours before pickup and no longer than twelve hours after, with theft of set-out recyclables treated as an infraction under Section 6-5.214.
Pacifica Recyclables Separation and Curbside Rules
Some RestrictionsPacifica Municipal Code § 6-5.207
(a)Persons desiring to participate in the Pacifica Recycling Program shall prepare and separate those recyclable materials that the City has contracted for pickup by the authorized recycling agent from other garbage and refuse as required by the collection contract, and thereafter have the segregated recyclable materials placed within receptacles as required by this article, or within the desig...
Looking for San Mateo County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Pacifica city rules.
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