Mariposa County, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Mariposa County provides recycling rather than mandating curbside diversion. The County accepts a broad range of residential recyclables: CRV bottles and cans, cardboard and chipboard, glass bottles and jars, metals (aluminum, tin, scrap), numbered plastics #1-7 (food-grade, rinsed and dried), mixed paper and newspaper, and household batteries. The key operational difference is how materials must be prepared. At the Mariposa Landfill Recycling Center, the County instructs that clean recyclables 'must be separated by type and placed in the appropriate bin.' At the County's transfer stations, by contrast, accepted recyclables go into a single co-mingled bin. Transfer-station guidance excludes items like Styrofoam, food-contaminated material, tarps, toys, unnumbered plastics, plastic bags, window glass, mirrors, and wax-lined cardboard. Electronics, appliances, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and tires are handled separately, and some carry fees. Under County Code Section 8.36.100(D), 'any and all material which is accepted by the recycler located at the Mariposa County landfill shall not be subject to fees' — recycling at the landfill is fee-exempt, an incentive to divert. The code defines 'properly prepared recyclable waste' (Section 8.36.020) as materials separated by kind and free of impurities as required by receiving manufacturers. These are program rules administered by the Public Works Solid Waste & Recycling Division rather than a household recycling mandate with penalties.