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

Section 5352, part of the Organic Waste Disposal Reduction ordinance the City Council adopted to implement the state's mandatory commercial recycling law, requires every Commercial Business, including Multi-Family Residential Dwellings, to subscribe to the City's three-container collection service and adjust the size or number of containers whenever Public Works determines capacity is inadequate. Businesses must place Source Separated Green Container Organic Waste (including food waste) in the Green Container, Source Separated Recyclable Materials in the Blue Container, and everything else in the Gray Container, without cross-contaminating the streams.

Except for multi-family dwellings, a business must also put correctly labeled, color-conforming recycling and organics containers in every indoor and outdoor area where it provides trash containers for customers, train and periodically inspect employees on sorting, and give new tenants written sorting instructions within 14 days of move-in. Businesses must give Public Works or its designee access for inspections under Section 5358 and cooperate with the City's Remote Monitoring program, which places equipment on the Blue, Green, and Gray Containers to check for Prohibited Container Contaminants.

A business that generates only a small amount of organic waste can apply to Public Works under Section 5353 for a de minimis waiver from some or all of these requirements. Businesses that self-haul instead of subscribing must meet the Self-Hauler permit requirements of Section 5357. This is separate from the City's residential curbside greenwaste and recycling cart rules for single-family homes, which fall under Section 5351.