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

Section 8.32.020(B) requires all residential dwellings and commercial businesses to subscribe to the city's waste hauling service for garbage and recycling and to the city or a city-approved hauler for organic waste; commercial businesses that meet the self-hauler standards in Section 8.32.045 may self-haul recycling and organics instead of subscribing. Organic waste must go in the green (or brown/yellow-lidded for commercial) containers described in Sections 8.32.080 and 8.32.115, kept separate from garbage and recyclables. The city may inspect hauler records under Section 8.32.020(C) to confirm organic waste and recyclables aren't being hauled at no net cost as a workaround.

Commercial businesses face added duties under Section 8.32.230: periodic self-inspection of containers for contamination, annual employee and tenant education on sorting, and new-tenant education within fourteen days of occupancy. Section 8.32.280(D) gave residential and multifamily generators an education-only grace period from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023, with no equivalent grace period for standalone commercial businesses; after that, noncompliance moves straight to a documented notice of violation and enforcement under Section 8.32.280(E). Large commercial edible food generators (restaurants over 250 seats or 5,000 square feet, hotels with 200-plus rooms, and similar) have separate food-recovery duties under Section 8.32.265, including written agreements with food recovery organizations and five-year recordkeeping.