Berkeley, CA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

020 generally prohibits letting garbage, rubbish or waste collect and accumulate on any residential, industrial, commercial or business premises in the City. But subsection A carves out backyard composting explicitly: the accumulation prohibition is not to be construed as affecting any properly conducted garden composting process carried on by a private individual on their own premises and for their own use, so long as it is done in a manner consistent with the section. That carve-out sits alongside the same section's nuisance-prevention standard in subsection B, which applies to any waste kept on a premises between collection intervals, composting included: it must be handled so as to prevent harboring or breeding of rodents, insects and other vermin, prevent ready access by dogs and other animals, avoid objectionable odors, avoid creating a fire hazard, and avoid unsightliness that would depreciate neighboring property values or interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life nearby.

In practice, this means a resident can keep a compost pile or bin in their own yard without a permit or City compost cart, but the pile has to stay contained and nuisance-free under the same rodent, odor and fire-hazard standard that governs every other kind of waste storage in Berkeley. 050 do not apply to material that never leaves the property as waste, since composting keeps that organic matter out of the garbage stream entirely.