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

Gilroy adopted its mandatory organics ordinance, Chapter 12 Article VI, in 2021 to comply with the state's SB 1383 organic-waste-reduction mandate, and it reaches every generator in the city. Section 12.75 requires single-family households to subscribe to the city's organic waste collection and sort green container organics, blue container recyclables and gray container trash into the correct bin. Section 12.76 extends the same three-container mandate to commercial businesses and multifamily residential buildings: they must subscribe to the service, let the city review container size and pickup frequency, supply and label containers for source-separated organics and recyclables in customer-facing areas, train employees and tenants annually, and give new tenants sorting instructions within fourteen days of move-in, unless the business instead qualifies as a self-hauler under Section 12.81.

Section 12.77 allows the city to grant a de minimis waiver where a business's organic waste is under ten or twenty gallons a week, depending on total waste volume, or a physical-space waiver where the property genuinely lacks room for the required containers, each good for five years before it must be reverified. Enforcement runs through the director of public works or a designated department: Section 12.83 requires a notice of violation giving sixty days to comply before any fine issues, and sets base administrative penalties of $50 to $100 for a first violation, $100 to $200 for a second, and $250 to $500 for a third or subsequent violation, each assessed per violation.