Jefferson Parish, LA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing article
- Secs. 16-111 to 16-118
- Bin & contents become
- parish property
- No-scavenging window
- 6 p.m. night before to collection
- Fine range
- $100-$500 per offense
- Repeat violations
- each day a separate offense
- Selling own recyclables first
- allowed under Sec. 16-115
- Contractor remedy
- may sue violator civilly
Summary
Once you set a recycling bin at the curb on collection day, everything in it legally becomes property of the Parish of Jefferson under Code Sec. 16-112, and only the parish's authorized recycling contractor may pick it up. Scavenging a neighbor's bin, or hauling one off between 6 p.m. the night before collection and pickup the next day, is a separate offense punishable by $100 to $500 per violation under Secs. 16-113 and 16-118.
Sec. 16-112. Ownership of recyclable waste materials properly placed in a recycling bin. Upon the placement of recyclable waste material in the collection bin at designated collection site in accordance with the requirements of this article, any recyclable materials shall become the property of the Parish of Jefferson. It shall be a violation of this article for any person not authorized by the Parish of Jefferson to collect or pick up or cause to be collected or picked up any of such recyclable materials. Recyclable collection bins are the property of the Parish of Jefferson. Sec. 16-113. Unauthorized collection prohibited. During the twenty-four-hour period commencing at 6:00 p.m. on any day preceding a day designated for collection of recyclable waste material, no person, other than an authorized recycling contractor, shall remove recyclable waste material and/or recycling bins which have been placed at a designated recycling collection location. Sec. 16-118. Penalty. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this article shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 20 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Article VI of Chapter 16, sections 16-111 through 16-118, is Jefferson Parish's dedicated recycling ordinance, separate from the general trash-storage rules in section 16-4. It defines recyclable waste materials as newspapers, glass, and metal cans and similar items separated out for recycling, and defines the recycling bin itself as the container the parish supplies to residents for that purpose. Section 16-112 makes ownership explicit: the moment recyclable material is placed in the bin at a designated collection location under the article's requirements, that material, and the bin itself, belongs to the Parish of Jefferson, not the resident who set it out and not whoever happens to find it first.
the evening before a scheduled recycling pickup, nobody but an authorized recycling contractor under parish contract may remove recyclable material or bins from a designated collection location, and every unauthorized removal from each location is its own separate offense. Section 16-114 separately bans the theft or unauthorized use of the recycling bins themselves, distinct from what's inside them. The article does carve out an exception in section 16-115: nothing stops a resident from selling or donating recyclable material directly, so long as it was never put out for collection in the first place; the ordinance only governs material once it enters the parish's collection stream.
The director of the department of environmental affairs enforces the article, and an authorized recycling contractor can also sue a violator directly in a civil action under section 16-117, a remedy that exists on top of, not instead of, the criminal penalty.
Violations & Fines
Section 16-118 sets the penalty for the whole recycling article: not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each offense, with a new offense created for every day a violation occurs or continues. That covers scavenging recyclables from a designated collection point during the restricted overnight window, stealing or misusing a parish recycling bin, or otherwise collecting recyclable material without authorization. An authorized recycling contractor can also bring its own civil action against a violator under section 16-117, independent of any fine the parish imposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns my recycling once I put it out?
Can someone else legally take items out of my recycling bin?
Can I sell my own newspapers or cans instead of recycling them?
What's the fine for stealing recycling bins or contents?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Jefferson Parish
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