Butte County, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Diversion target
- 25% of waste collected annually
- Recycling pickup frequency
- at least bi-weekly
- Trash/organics pickup
- weekly
- Collection hours
- 5:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m., no Sundays
- Reporting
- quarterly recycling reports required
Summary
In unincorporated Butte County, licensed haulers must provide weekly trash and organics pickup and recycling collection at least every two weeks to every home and business inside a mandatory service area under Section 31-35. Each licensee also has to divert at least 25 percent of what it collects away from disposal every year and report the results to the county's Solid Waste Management division.
A.Licensee shall implement programs to divert from disposal a minimum of twenty-five (25) percent of the solid waste it collects annually. ... C.Collection Requirements. Each licensed hauler shall conform to the following conditions:1.Residential Collection Services. Every licensed hauler shall provide weekly solid waste and organic waste collection service, and no less than bi-weekly collection of recyclables, to all residential premises located in a mandatory service area and/or recycling zone unless otherwise authorized by the County.2.Commercial Collection Services. Every licensed hauler shall provide weekly solid waste and organic waste collection service, and no less than bi-weekly collection of recyclables, to all commercial premises located in a mandatory service area and/or recycling zone unless otherwise authorized by the County.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 61).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 31, Article IV of the Butte County Code sets the operating rules for the licensed haulers who run curbside recycling in the unincorporated county. Section 31-35(A) requires that a "licensee shall implement programs to divert from disposal a minimum of twenty-five (25) percent of the solid waste it collects annually," and each hauler must file an annual compliance report certifying the tonnage collected against the tonnage diverted; the Board of Supervisors may revise that percentage or add diversion terms directly into individual franchise agreements.
Section 31-35(B) layers on quarterly recycling reports due the thirtieth day after each quarter ends, broken out by waste type and by jurisdiction. within five hundred feet of residentially zoned land, and cannot happen on Sundays absent an emergency or Local Enforcement Agency approval. Customer service rules under Section 31-35(J) require haulers to hand new customers a pamphlet on the curbside recycling program at signup and to distribute recycling program information to every customer in a recycling zone at least once a year, including acceptable materials and variable can rates that reward smaller trash containers.
Violations & Fines
A licensed hauler that misses the 25 percent annual diversion target, fails to file the required quarterly recycling reports, or collects outside the 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. window near residential zones is answerable to the county's Local Enforcement Agency and can face franchise agreement enforcement action, including license suspension or revocation under Section 31-24.2.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does my trash hauler have to pick up recycling in Butte County?
What diversion rate does the county require of its haulers?
Is there a curfew on when my hauler can collect near my house?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Butte County
California rules heatmap·Compare Butte County to another location·View the California trash & recycling overview
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