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

Yolo County Code § 6-17.301(a) requires that, unless exempted, all Owners and Occupants of Single-Family Premises located in a county-designated Densely Populated Area subscribe to bi-weekly Recyclables Collection and Organics Collection services from an authorized County Franchisee, on top of the weekly trash pickup that applies countywide. Section 6-17.201(cc) defines Organics as Food Waste, or Yard Trimmings commingled with Food Waste, and specifies that no discarded material counts as Organics unless separated from Solid Waste, Recyclable Materials, and C&D. Section 6-17.201(t) defines Food Waste broadly to include fruit, vegetable, pasta, bread, rice, meat, dairy, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, and compostable paper products and cutlery.

For Commercial Premises, § 6-17.303(c) imposes a tighter standard: businesses must arrange containers sufficient for weekly, not bi-weekly, removal of Organics, expressly citing Assembly Bill 1826, the state's mandatory commercial organics recycling law. Single-family households receive a minimum 96-gallon Organics cart under § 6-17.303(a). A household can be excused from the organics mandate only by demonstrating under § 6-17.301(c)(5) that it actively composts both yard trimmings and food waste onsite or otherwise diverts that waste, at which point the Department grants a Residential Organics services exemption lasting one year and subject to renewal.