Santa Cruz County, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Recycling is mandatory in unincorporated Santa Cruz County under the County's Universal Service requirement (County Code Chapter 7.20, Ordinance 5383), which carries out California Senate Bill 1383's statewide mandate for recycling and organics collection. Every developed property must subscribe to trash, recycling, and organics service through GreenWaste Recovery, or register as a self-hauler, and recyclables cannot simply be thrown in the regular trash. GreenWaste provides one blue 64-gallon recycling cart at no extra charge (a 96-gallon size is available on request) collected weekly on the customer's garbage day. Accepted recyclables generally include clean, dry materials such as paper, cardboard, glass containers, plastic containers, metal cans, milk cartons and aseptic containers, and California Redemption Value beverage containers; residents should consult the County's 'What Goes Where' guide and GreenWaste's sorting guide for the current item list, since contamination and non-program plastics are not accepted. Materials must be clean and dry, and once placed at the curb for collection they become the property of the County-authorized service provider. Self-haulers must separate recyclables and deliver them to approved facilities rather than landfilling them. SB 1383 also obligates businesses and applicable multifamily properties to arrange recycling and organics collection. Because the ordinance is tied to the state mandate, the County's enforcement timeline (with fines beginning after November 1, 2026) applies to recycling subscription as part of the overall Universal Service requirement.