Arcadia, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 5120.7.1 of the Arcadia Municipal Code makes curbside recycling part of a service every household must buy. The owners or occupants of all single-family houses and all multiple-dwelling units, including duplexes, triplexes, apartments and condominiums, must subscribe to and pay for solid waste, organic waste or recyclables collection service regardless of whether anything is placed for collection. The City's duly authorized residential solid waste collector provides the service under the Municipal Code, City resolutions and the City Residential Refuse Agreement. No person can refuse the service, use another service, or fail to pay the collector the fee set by City Council resolution.

Section 5121 states the standard for the program itself: the collection, loading and hauling of recyclables must be provided for and conducted in accordance with the California Solid Waste Reuse and Recycling Access Act of 1991, SB 1383 (the Short-lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act of 2016), and the applicable regulations in Division 0 of the Part.

The container side is defined in Section 5110. A Blue Container is the container used for storage and collection of Source Separated Recyclable Materials or Source Separated Blue Container Waste. Under Section 5140 single-family generators place recyclables in the Blue Container and are barred from putting Gray Container material into the Blue or Green Container. Section 5120.3 requires residential refuse, organic waste and recyclables to be in sturdy containers not exceeding a gross weight of sixty pounds.

Section 5120.7 adds a residential refuse fee of $0.30 per month per residential unit, billed on the solid waste bill, to fund the source reduction and recycling element under Public Resources Code 40000 et seq. Section 5140.7 lets the City inspect containers and expressly does not allow entry into the interior of a private residential property.