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

Section 8.12.170 of the Highland Municipal Code, part of the solid waste chapter, sets the curbside rules for the City of Highland. Refuse and recyclables must go into the standard containers or bins approved by the public works subcommittee and the collector, and no one can maintain or place for collection a container that does not conform to the standard container or bin designated by the city. The duty falls on the person in charge of the residential or commercial premises who is designated under Section 8.12.050.

Timing is spelled out in hours. A container cannot be placed adjacent to a street or public right-of-way more than 24 hours before the normal collection time, and it has to come off the street or right-of-way location within 12 hours after collection. Residential solid waste must be out at the curb pickup site by 6:00 a.m. on the designated pickup day. The same section keeps dead animals and bulky waste out of the set-out entirely: bulky waste is collected only during annual cleanups or by contractual arrangements between the resident or business and the contractor. Tree trimmings and brush must be cut into four-foot lengths and tied in bundles not larger than 24 inches in diameter.

Between pickups, Section 8.12.160 requires containers capable of holding without spilling all refuse that would ordinarily accumulate between two successive collections, kept in a suitable place defined by the city's development code, zoning code or general plan. Under Section 8.12.110, anyone required to arrange for the collection of recyclables or compostables owes the fees and charges whether or not the collection service is used, and Section 8.12.120(D) makes commercial recycling a mandatory service.

Recycling also runs through the three-container organics program in Chapter 8.13, where Section 8.13.030(B) directs single-family generators to place source separated recyclable materials in the blue container.