Camarillo, CA Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)

Section 9.05.030 of the Camarillo Municipal Code, adopted under Chapter 9.05 (Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction), obligates every single-family organic waste generator to subscribe to the city's organic waste collection service for all organic waste produced at the home. The city or its designee can review the number and size of a household's containers to judge whether capacity is adequate, and can require a resident to adjust their service level. Under the three-container system, source-separated green container organic waste, including food waste, goes in the green container; recyclables go in the blue container; and everything else goes in the black container, and residents may not cross-contaminate by putting black-container material into the green or blue bins.

An exception exists for households that qualify as self-haulers under Section 9.05.090. Residents also retain the option to reduce or manage organic waste on-site, including through a community composting site consistent with 14 CCR Section 18984.9(c), instead of relying solely on curbside pickup. The chapter's stated purpose, set out in Section 9.05.010, traces directly to 2016's SB 1383, which set statewide targets to cut organic waste disposal 50 percent by 2020 and 75 percent by 2025, and required California cities and counties to offer organics collection to every resident and business starting in 2022; Section 9.05.130 fixes the chapter's local effective date at January 1, 2022.

Commercial businesses and multifamily properties of five or more units face parallel, more detailed obligations under Section 9.05.040, including container labeling, contamination monitoring, and annual education duties to employees and tenants.