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

Chapter 8.66 implements Senate Bill 1383, the 2016 state law requiring California jurisdictions to cut disposal of organic waste 50 percent by 2020 and 75 percent by 2025 and to provide organic waste collection to every resident and business, per Section 8.66.020. To meet that mandate, Section 8.66.040(a) automatically enrolls every single-family generator in the city's three-container system: a recycling container, an organics container, and a mixed-waste container, each defaulted to a minimum 60-gallon weekly service level. The city reserves the right to change those minimum levels over time and to inspect the number, size and placement of a household's carts to confirm they provide adequate capacity, and a resident must adjust service levels if the city requests it.

Multi-family buildings and businesses fall under the separate commercial framework in Section 8.66.050, which lets generators choose from a three-container, two-container or one-container collection option. Compliance is monitored through Compliance Reviews, Route Reviews and inspections under Section 8.66.120, and enforcement runs through the city's administrative citation process: a Notice of Violation under Section 8.66.130(a) requires correction within 7 days before the city can move to an administrative citation and fine set by council resolution under Section 1.26.060. The city ran an education-only period from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023 under Section 8.66.130(h) before civil penalties began January 1, 2024, per Section 8.66.130(i). Anyone cited can request a hearing before a city-appointed hearing officer under Section 8.66.130(g).