Riverside, CA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Section 6.04.080 of the Riverside Municipal Code, titled 'Dumping, placing, burning and burial restrictions,' first sets a broad prohibition: subsection A makes it unlawful to throw, drop, dump, bury, burn, place, keep or accumulate garbage, hazardous waste, refuse, recyclable materials, rubbish, or solid waste on any lot, land, street, alley, water or waterway in the city, with violators exposed to the hazardous-materials cleanup cost-recovery provisions of Section 16.32.390. Subsection B then narrows the burial piece specifically: 'Solid waste may not be buried on any lot in the City,' followed immediately by the exception that governs backyard composting, the section 'shall not be interpreted to prohibit composting of yard waste.' In practice this means a resident can maintain an open compost bin or pile of grass clippings, leaves, and plant trimmings on their own property without running afoul of the burial ban, and without needing a separate city composting permit.

The exemption is narrow, though: it protects composting activity itself, not an accumulation that crosses into a public-nuisance condition. Section 6.04.090 separately declares that solid waste, recyclable, or organic recyclable material that by its 'location and character is unsightly and interferes with the reasonable enjoyment of property by neighbors' is a public nuisance, and Section 6.04.130 bars letting waste matter 'collect and remain' on a lot or premises. A compost pile that grows into a rotting, odorous, or vermin-attracting heap can therefore still draw Public Works Director or Code Enforcement action even though the underlying activity, yard-waste composting, remains lawful.

The Public Works Director enforces Chapter 6.04 under Section 6.04.180, inspecting premises and issuing written notice of violations, and Section 6.04.190 preserves the City's ability to pursue any other criminal or civil remedy for violations of this chapter.