Monterey Park, CA Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)

Chapter 6.15, adopted to implement Senate Bill 1383's statewide methane-reduction regulations on top of AB 939, requires every single-family organic waste generator in Monterey Park to subscribe to organic waste collection service under Section 6.15.030 for all the food scraps, yard trimmings and other organic material the household generates. The city reserves the right to review the size and number of a household's containers to confirm they are adequate, and a generator must adjust its service level as the city directs; the section still lets a household prevent or reduce its own waste, compost on site, or use a community composting site instead of simply subscribing to more collection capacity.

Sorting is mandatory, not optional. Households must place source separated green container organic waste, including food waste, in the green container and place gray container waste in the gray container; the code makes it unlawful to dump prohibited contaminants into any of the collection containers or to cross-contaminate by putting gray-container material into the green or blue container. Multifamily properties and commercial businesses face a parallel, more detailed set of container, labeling and employee-training duties under Section 6.15.040. Section 6.15.130 layers state enforcement on top of the local rule: before the city can act, it must follow the notice-and-cure process of California Code of Regulations Section 18995.4, including a sixty-day compliance period after a notice of violation, and it may otherwise enforce the chapter under Title 4's general penalties and Chapter 6.08's solid waste enforcement tools.