Arcadia, CA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 5120.2.1 of the Arcadia Municipal Code sets the set-out location. A person who wants waste collected from a residential street or alley must place the solid waste, organic waste or recyclables container within five feet of the street or alley. A hotel or place of business places its container within five feet of the rear alley when there is an alley other than a blind alley; if the only alley is a blind alley, or there is none, the container goes at a convenient location on the premises. Everything must be at those locations before the hours fixed for collection.

Timing is tied to the collection day. Section 5120.5.1 allows containers on a parkway within 24 hours before the date and time the Manager specifies for collection, provided the containers meet the Part 2 and Part 4 rules. Section 5120.5.2 then bars anyone from leaving a container on the public street, sidewalk or parkway next to their property past 5 a.m. on the day following collection.

Section 5120.5 keeps containers out of view in the rest of the year: no container may be left in a public street, alley or sidewalk, on a vacant lot, in the required front yard of an improved lot, or between the front main building and the street. On a corner lot, containers cannot sit closer to the side street than the street-side side yard unless they are behind a solid fence or wall at least four feet high.

The container itself is regulated too. Section 5120.2.3 requires containers to be metal with outside handles and a tight-fitting metal cover that stays on except when waste goes in or comes out. Section 5120.3 caps residential containers at a gross weight of sixty pounds. Section 5120.2 requires a leaking container to be replaced within ten days after the collector tags it. Business containers must hold not less than three nor more than thirty gallons under Section 5120.2.2. New commercial and industrial projects over 500 square feet, new multifamily projects and new mixed-use projects must also provide at least one trash enclosure under Section 9103.01.130.