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

Section 8.44.081(A) tells residential customers on the city's automated collection program exactly where to place their carts: "along the street curb in front of the premises, or along the alley in the rear thereof," positioned "at the edge of the curb on either side of the driveway... at a minimum of three feet from any parked car and at a minimum of one foot between each automated cart," with "the embossed arrow on the lid" facing the street. Subsection B fixes the timing window: containers cannot go out "before 3:00 p.m. on the day immediately prior to the scheduled collection day," and residents must pull them back in, since "no person shall permit the containers to remain on or immediately adjacent to a street or alley after 8:00 p.m. of the collection day." General receptacle rules layer on top of the placement schedule.

Section 8.44.090 requires every property to keep gray, blue and green container waste in the type of receptacle the director of public works prescribes, and Section 8.44.091 requires every receptacle lid to fit tightly enough "to prevent as best as practicable the entry therein by coyotes, dogs, cats, rodents or other animals," a wildlife-driven design standard tied to the city's hillside terrain. Commercial and multi-family properties follow a parallel set of rules under Section 8.44.082, including labeling and container-color requirements tied to state organics law, and every receptacle at a place of business must display the street address in letters at least two inches tall under Section 8.44.092.

The automated carts remain city property under Section 8.44.090(B); they may not be removed from the address they were assigned to, and the city repairs or replaces damaged or stolen carts at no charge unless the damage stems from customer abuse.