Paramount, CA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Section 13.20.100 puts schedule-setting in the hands of the Paramount City Council. The Council fixes the periods, dates or schedules for garbage and rubbish collection and the districts within the City to which each one applies. It acts by order or resolution, each order or resolution is published once in the official newspaper of the City, and under subsection B the new schedule takes effect on the 10th day following publication. The section itself names no pickup weekday, so a resident looks to the current Council resolution for the district.

Collection runs through a single authorized collector. Under § 13.20.090 it is unlawful for anyone other than the City's contractor or the City to gather, collect or remove garbage or rubbish from premises other than industrial premises, and subsection B makes it unlawful for an owner or occupant to use a collector who is not duly licensed by the City. Householders hauling occasional loads of waste, refuse or manure that contain no garbage to a legal disposal point are excepted. Crew hours are capped by § 13.20.120(F): no residential collection between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and no commercial or industrial collection between 6:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.

Organic waste is a separate service duty. Section 13.09.020 requires single-family generators to subscribe to organic waste separate collection, using a green, blue and black container set or a variation that adds a brown container for food waste. Households that self-haul under § 13.09.080, or that practice on-site home composting or grasscycling and generate no defined organic waste for collection, are excepted, and the City can review container numbers and sizes and require a service-level change.

Billing follows § 13.20.210: residential account holders are billed periodically in advance, monthly or quarterly, by the City contractor, and penalty fees are added to unpaid bills. The occupant is liable, and the owner becomes liable if the premises are unoccupied or the occupant fails to pay (§ 13.20.200). An exemption requires a sworn affidavit that no garbage or rubbish will be put out, and it expires at the end of one year or the calendar year, whichever is sooner (§ 13.20.220).