Costa Mesa, CA Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)

Section 8-83(m) defines any person living in a single-family home, or in a multi-family property of four units or less, as a 'residential organic waste generator' and requires three things of them. First, they must subscribe to organic waste collection service through the Costa Mesa Sanitary District franchise, known as the CMSD program. Second, they must participate by sorting organic waste, non-organic recyclables and other solid waste into the designated containers the CMSD provides, and must not place prohibited contaminants in any of those containers. Third, the ordinance expressly preserves a resident's right to instead reduce organic waste generation, compost it on site, or use a community composting site under 14 CCR § 18984.9(c), rather than subscribing to hauled collection.

Larger properties are treated differently: subsection (n) applies to commercial businesses, including multi-family properties of five units or more, which must subscribe to a city franchisee's collection service or prove to the city that an equivalent recycling and organics program is already in place, complete with material volumes reported quarterly or annually. Commercial generators that produce two cubic yards or more of solid waste per week, as measured under Public Resources Code § 42649.1, must specifically arrange organics recycling service, per subsection (n)(13). The rule implements SB 1383's statewide mandate to divert organic waste from landfills, and the CMSD program is the mechanism Costa Mesa residents use to comply.