Palm Desert, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Palm Desert Municipal Code § 8.19.040 is the container rule behind the recycling program in the City of Palm Desert. Subsection (A) puts the duty on every person having charge or control of residential or commercial premises where discarded material accumulates: source separate and keep the solid waste, recyclable material and organic material in the designated containers obtained exclusively through the franchise waste hauler. Subsection (B) rules out substitutes. Persons served by the collection program can only use the approved containers from the hauler, and no other containers are allowed.

Ownership and repair are spelled out. Containers assigned by or obtained from the hauler remain at all times property of the hauler, and a container can never be removed from the property it was assigned to. Ordinary wear and tear is repaired and maintained by the hauler at no additional cost. Damage caused by generator abuse or negligence is charged to the generator, or as otherwise provided in the franchise agreement.

Subsection (D) sets the colors: solid waste containers are gray or black, recyclable material containers are blue, organic material containers are green, and source separated food waste containers, if applicable, are brown. Under subsection (C) the hauler must replace existing containers with ones that meet the state mandated color requirements of 14 CCR Section 18984.9(b), at the end of the useful life of those containers or before January 1, 2036, whichever occurs first. For businesses, § 8.19.080(E) adds that a commercial business is not required to replace functional containers, including ones bought before January 1, 2022, until the end of their useful life or before January 1, 2036.

Who must subscribe is set in the sections that follow. Single-family responsible parties must subscribe to and pay for weekly three-container collection of recyclable materials, organic materials and solid waste (§ 8.19.060(A)). Multifamily premises and commercial businesses must subscribe to three-container or three-plus-container service with at least weekly collection (§§ 8.19.070 and 8.19.080).

Chapter 8.17 protects the program itself. Recyclable materials placed in a city-regulated recyclable materials container become the property of the city when set out for collection by the franchise waste hauler (§ 8.17.020(A)), and § 8.17.030 makes it unlawful to tamper with the container or its contents or to remove them from where they were placed for pickup.