Kings County, CA Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)

California SB 1383 (the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Reduction Act, effective January 1, 2022) requires all residents, businesses and multifamily properties to separate organic waste, food scraps, food-soiled paper, plant debris and untreated wood, and recyclables from trash, and to either subscribe to collection service or self-haul to an approved facility. Kings County's own SB 1383 information confirms how this applies locally: in the unincorporated county, subscribing to the required collection services is mandatory unless a resident is granted an exemption by the County's Environmental Health Division of the Health Services Department. Mid Valley Disposal provides the organics (green) cart. Accepted organics include plant matter, tree trimmings and yard trimmings, breads and grains, untreated wood, pasta and rice, fruits and vegetables, eggshells, nutshells, food-soiled paper, soiled cardboard, and cooked meat, poultry and fish. Prohibited from the organics cart are building materials, cacti, succulents and yucca, concrete, dirt, palm fronds, pet waste, sand, stones, trash, and tree trimmings larger than 4 inches in diameter or 4 feet in length. Although Kings County's population (about 152,000) does not qualify for a blanket low-population rural waiver, individual low-density parcels can pursue waivers through CalRecycle's framework. SB 1383 regulations require jurisdictions to begin imposing penalties for non-compliance beginning January 1, 2024, and to conduct route reviews and annual compliance checks.