Lakewood, CA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Municipal Code § 9920, adopted under Part 24 of Title IX by Ordinance No. 2026-3 (effective March 10, 2026), splits solid waste storage into cart service for single-family homes and small multi-family properties, and bin (dumpster) service for everyone else. Under § 9920(B)(2), commercial, industrial, institutional, office, educational, recreational, open-space and agricultural land uses, along with multi-family buildings of five or more units, must store waste in City-approved bins unless the Public Works Director approves an alternative. Each bin needs a minimum three-cubic-yard capacity for solid waste and recyclables and two cubic yards for organic waste, with an overlapping fly-tight lid kept closed except while being filled or emptied.

Bins must sit inside a building or inside an approved external trash enclosure; none may be left outside a structure or in a public alley or right-of-way unless the Public Works Director specifically authorizes it (the code cites commercial nurseries as an example) and the bin is fully screened from the street. Section 9920(C) sets enclosure design standards: masonry or decorative-block walls at least five feet high, a rainproof roof sized so bin lids can be raised (an eight-foot roof for a three-cubic-yard bin), self-closing lockable gates, and a collection-vehicle access path with a 100-foot maximum backout drive, 42-foot turn radius, 20-foot clearance and a 10-by-10-foot reinforced pad rated for 20 tons.

Separately, § 5338(E) covers roll-off bins brought in for construction, demolition or improvement projects: they may not be placed in the public right-of-way without an encroachment permit, though they may sit on the job site itself without one. Lakewood contracts with a private hauler and Public Works, not the Sheriff, administers these placement and design rules.