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

Mandatory organics recycling in unincorporated Riverside County is driven by California SB 1383 (Lara, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016), the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants law, and implemented locally through Ordinance No. 745 (amended by 745.4, effective January 7, 2021). SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to provide organic waste collection to all residents and businesses, with statewide targets of a 75% reduction in organic waste sent to landfills and a 20% increase in edible-food recovery by 2025; the regulations became enforceable on January 1, 2022. Ordinance 745, Section 5.A, requires all residential properties to place organic waste, including food waste, in the green container, and Section 5.B extends the requirement to commercial properties and multifamily dwellings of five or more units. 'Organic Waste' is defined in Section 2.K to include food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, manure, biosolids, and similar materials. Residents may seek a self-haul waiver, and commercial businesses may apply to the Department of Environmental Health for de minimis or physical-space waivers (Section 8) where they generate very little organic waste or lack space for the carts. The County's collection-frequency waiver (Section 8.D) allows certain customers to have blue or gray carts collected every 14 days. Violations are subject to administrative or criminal citation under Section 13.