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

040(b) requires every single-family organic waste generator to participate in the city's three-container system and to place source separated organic waste, including food waste, in the organics container; recyclables go in the recycling container and everything else in the trash container, and generators may not put trash-bound material into either the organics or recycling container. 050(a) and (b): each must subscribe to a three-container, two-container or one-container collection service and sort designated materials into the matching containers, and businesses other than multi-family dwellings must provide labeled organics and recycling containers everywhere they offer a trash can for customers, per subsection (d).

060 de minimis waiver if its total waste service is under two cubic yards a week and its organic waste is under 10 gallons per applicable container, or under 20 gallons per container if total service is two cubic yards or more, or a physical space waiver if the property genuinely lacks room for extra carts. 080 carry an added duty to arrange food recovery for edible food that would otherwise be thrown away rather than composted or landfilled. 020's purpose finding that Senate Bill 1383 requires a 75 percent cut in organic waste disposal by 2025.