Pico Rivera, CA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Pico Rivera Municipal Code Section 8.12.090 gives the city and any contractor holding an exclusive franchise agreement, along with their agents and employees, the exclusive right to gather, collect and remove refuse from premises covered by that agreement. The same section then makes it unlawful for anyone else to gather, collect or remove any refuse; to convey or transport refuse along a public street, alley or highway; to take any refuse from a receptacle set out for collection; or to interfere with or disturb a container, or move it from where the owner placed it for pickup.

This closes off both unlicensed commercial hauling and individual scavenging of recyclables or bulky items left at the curb. Section 8.12.080 backs this up by making it unlawful for anyone without a valid, unrevoked city permit to remove refuse from a premises or public right-of-way, and by describing a moratorium under which no new hauling permits are issued beyond those already held, so the number of authorized haulers stays limited over time. Section 8.12.440 restates the same prohibition on collection by unlicensed persons and separately makes it unlawful for a property owner to contract with or use a hauler that is not duly licensed by the city, meaning a resident who hires an unlicensed independent hauler is also exposed to liability, not just the hauler.

Limited carve-outs exist: householders may still haul their own occasional loads of waste or manure to a legal disposal point, and city or contractor employees performing their normal duties are excepted from the prohibition.