Hawthorne, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

190(A) requires source separation of materials: all recyclable materials must be kept apart from other solid waste or organic materials and placed in a designated recyclable materials container that is visibly marked with labeling compliant with SB 1383. 080(E) backs that up on the container side, requiring recyclable and organic materials containers to carry labels, in both English and Spanish, showing what is and is not accepted, with the authorized hauler responsible for designing and replacing those labels as accepted materials change. 190(B) add that recyclables must sit in containers owned by the authorized hauler or the city, kept in storage areas separate from solid waste containers, and once set out in the public right-of-way, recyclable materials become city property collected by the authorized hauler.

16's scavenging rule bars anyone other than the authorized hauler from removing recyclable materials that have already been segregated and placed at the curb for collection, closing off a route around the sorting requirement. 190(C) prohibits sending collected recyclables to a landfill, incinerator, or mixed-waste composter, and requires marketing them to a recyclables processor, broker or end-use market instead.