Fountain Valley, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 6.08.200 of the Fountain Valley Municipal Code applies to every single-family organic waste generator in the City of Fountain Valley, except households that meet the self-hauler requirements in Section 6.08.260. Three duties follow. First, the household must subscribe to the city's organic waste collection service for all organic waste it generates. The city has the right to review the number and size of a generator's containers to judge whether capacity is adequate for each type of service, and the household must adjust its service level when the city asks. Second, the household must take part in the service by putting designated materials in designated containers and must not place prohibited container contaminants in them. Third, sorting is fixed by color: source separated green container organic waste, including food waste, goes in the green container, source separated recyclable materials go in the blue container, and gray container waste goes in the gray container. Materials designated for the gray container cannot go into the green or blue container.

The section also lets a generator manage organic waste on its own by preventing or reducing it, handling it on site, or using a community composting site under 14 CCR Section 18984.9(c). The containers themselves come from the city's franchisee. Section 6.08.080 provides each single-family dwelling with a ninety-five-gallon cart for non-organic waste, one for organic material and one for recyclables, with sixty-five-gallon carts offered where storage is inadequate. Section 6.08.090 requires closed lids and watertight, two-wheeled carts of no more than ninety-five gallons, and Section 6.08.060 passes title to the material to the city or its franchisee once it is placed in the cart. Chapter 6.08 was adopted by Ordinance 1580 in 2022.