Pacifica, CA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing chapter
- PMC Chapter 6-5, Article 1
- Deadline to start service
- 15 days after occupancy
- Who must subscribe
- Property owner, residential or commercial
- No-signup remedy
- Scavenger starts service, bills owner
- Delinquent write-off cap
- 1% of annual rate revenue
Summary
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.
(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 collection rates, a telephone number for customers to contact the company for service and billing information, and notice that refuse collection service is mandatory in the City and requires new residents to make arrangements for such service within fifteen (15) days after occupancy. ... (d)It shall be the responsibility of the owner of each parcel of property occupied for residential, commercial, or industrial use to request the scavenger to initiate refuse collection service as provided in this chapter within fifteen (15) days after the occupancy of any premises required to have refuse collection.
Full Breakdown
103 of the Pacifica Municipal Code makes refuse collection mandatory for every occupied residential, commercial, and industrial property in the city. The owner bears the underlying legal obligation to subscribe and pay, even where a lease lets a tenant handle the actual billing; an owner cannot escape the duty by pointing to a rental arrangement. New occupants get fifteen days from move-in to contact the scavenger and start service, and if an owner fails to do so, the scavenger is authorized to start collection anyway and bill the owner directly.
The scavenger, currently operating under a City franchise agreement, must send a notice with every regular bill listing common rates, a customer service phone number, and a reminder that service is mandatory in Pacifica, plus a detailed annual rate notice to every property owner and tenant. The City can also order a larger or more frequent container setup than an owner has chosen if the volume of garbage exceeds what the assigned containers can handle, after written notice to both the owner and the hauling company.
The scavenger must also maintain a written complaint log, including the customer's name and address, the nature of each complaint, and the City's response, available for city inspection during business hours. 112, which caps bad-debt write-offs at one percent of the hauler's annual rate revenue absent City approval for more.
Violations & Fines
Owners who never sign up face collection being started for them and billed retroactively under Section 6-5.103(d). Delinquent accounts are handled under Section 6-5.112: a penalty attaches only to the specific delinquent charge, not the two-month prepayment security, and only once per delinquent bill. The scavenger must notify a tenant-billed owner of a pending delinquency before penalties take effect against that owner, or no penalty applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to sign up for trash service in Pacifica?
What happens if a new resident in Pacifica does not sign up for trash pickup?
Can a tenant be responsible for the trash bill instead of the owner?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pacifica
California rules heatmap·Compare Pacifica to another location·View the California trash & recycling overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Collection Schedule in Nearby Cities
How other cities in San Mateo County handle collection schedule.