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

Section 6-3.607 of the Watsonville Municipal Code, in Chapter 6-3, City Utilities, sets the core curbside recycling duty. Subsection (b) requires all customers to recycle all materials as designated by the Director, who is the Watsonville Director of Public Works and Utilities or an authorized representative under Section 6-3.100. The list of designated materials is therefore the Director's to set, and the City's definition of a recyclable in the same Code ties it to what the City recycling program accepts. Subsection (c) limits the carts: City provided recycling containers shall not be used for any purpose other than the segregation of recyclable materials in the City's curbside recycling program.

Several companion sections make the duty enforceable. Section 6-3.606(a) requires every residential, industrial, or commercial unit occupied or available for occupancy to obtain garbage and recycling service. Section 6-3.602 sets a minimum of one thirty-two (32) gallon City provided recycling cart or equivalent for each residential or commercial unit and each mobile home. Section 6-3.604(f) and (g) bar recyclable materials from solid waste containers and solid waste from recycling containers, and Section 6-3.609(c) bars any owner or occupant from preventing weekly collection of recyclables at the property.

Section 6-10.102, added by Ordinance 1428-22 effective May 26, 2022, layers on the organics rules. Single-family generators must subscribe to the City's organic waste collection services and place source separated recyclable materials in the blue container, green container organic waste including food waste in the green container, and gray container waste in the gray container. Commercial businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings, follow the same three-container sorting.

These rules apply in the City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California.