Corona, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Who must comply
- All single-family owners/occupants, absent self-hauler status
- Sorting
- Green organics, blue recyclables, gray trash
- First violation
- Infraction under Section 8.20.420(A)
- Repeat violation
- Misdemeanor if repeated within 2 years
- Noncompliance notice
- 30 days' written notice before auto-service
Summary
Every single-family household in Corona must subscribe to the franchisee's solid waste service and sort waste into the correct container: recyclables in the blue bin, organics in the green bin, and everything else in the gray bin. Corona Code of Ordinances Section 8.20.320 sets that duty, with an exception only for qualifying self-haulers.
Every person owning or occupying a single-family residential premises, except to the extent such owner or occupant satisfies the self-hauler requirements in § 8.20.340, shall: (A) Subscribe for services. Subscribe and pay for the solid waste collection services of the franchisee. ... (B) Place in appropriate containers. Place source separated green container organic waste in the green container; source separated recyclable materials in the blue container; and gray container waste in the gray container. Waste generators at single-family residential premises shall not place materials designated for the gray container into the green container or in the blue container and shall not otherwise place prohibited container contaminants in any container.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-56: Supplement contains: Local legislation passed through Ord. 3423, passed 12-3-2025).
Full Breakdown
340, to subscribe to and pay for the franchisee's solid waste collection services. 320(B) requires source-separated organic waste to go in the green container, source-separated recyclable materials in the blue container, and everything else in the gray container, and bars putting gray-container waste into the green or blue container or otherwise contaminating any container. 350, and additionally requires commercial operators to educate employees and contractors about the recycling program. 360 backs the sorting mandate with an automatic-service mechanism: if the administrator finds a property violating the recycling requirements, the administrator must give the property owner 30 days' written notice of the violation and the corrective steps needed; if the property is still noncompliant after 30 days, the franchisee must deliver recycling and organics containers to the property within five business days and start billing the property owner for the added service.
Violations & Fines
Section 8.20.420(A) makes a first violation of Section 8.20.320 an infraction, but any second violation of the same section within two years of the first is a misdemeanor. Section 8.20.420(C) also lets the city, in addition to those penalties, automatically add recycling and organics collection service to a noncompliant commercial account under Section 8.20.360 and bill the owner for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Corona homeowners have to subscribe to recycling service?
What happens if I do not sort my recycling correctly in Corona?
Which bin does food waste go in Corona?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Corona
California rules heatmap·Compare Corona to another location·View the California trash & recycling overview
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Recycling Requirements in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Riverside County handle recycling requirements.