Hillsboro, OR Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Applies to
- all City-licensed businesses
- Materials required
- paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, metal
- Exemption process
- Manager site visit required
- Enforcement
- notice, then citation, then fine
Summary
Hillsboro requires every business with a City business license to source-separate paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles and metal cans from the trash, provide recycling bins, and post recycling signage or face a citation.
All businesses required to have a business license or otherwise be entitled to an exemption certificate...must recycle as follows:1.Source separate from the waste stream all paper, cardboard, glass and plastic bottles and jars, and metal cans;2.Provide recycling containers for internal maintenance or work areas...; and3.Post accurate signs where recyclable materials are collected, stored, or both that identify the materials that the business must source separate...
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 1 | Community Development Code: Supplement 1).
Full Breakdown
HMC 5.04.080 makes recycling mandatory for any business holding, or exempt from, a Hillsboro business license. Businesses must source separate paper, cardboard, glass and plastic bottles and jars, and metal cans out of the waste stream, provide recycling containers in work and maintenance areas, and post accurate signs identifying what must be separated and how. A business that can show space or economic constraints during a Manager site visit may get an exemption. Noncompliance starts with a written notice describing the violation and a cure period, followed by a citation and a Council-set penalty if the business still doesn't comply.
Violations & Fines
A business that ignores a notice of noncompliance can be cited; failing to cure after the citation's deadline triggers a penalty in the amount set by City Council resolution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all Hillsboro businesses have to recycle?
Can a business get out of the recycling requirement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hillsboro
Compare Hillsboro to another location·View the Oregon trash & recycling overview
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