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

15, Segregation of Garbage, Rubbish, and Recyclable Materials, authorizes every producer of garbage and rubbish to separate out recyclable materials, and once segregated, those materials may be given or sold to any collector of recyclable materials, not only the city's own contractor; the section defines RECYCLABLE MATERIALS broadly as anything that can be economically collected, sorted, cleaned, treated, or reconstituted for reuse. That right to route recyclables to an outside buyer ends the moment the materials are placed at curbside or in an alley for city pickup.

in 2000, makes it unlawful for anyone other than the city or its authorized agents to pick up, collect, take, appropriate, or remove recyclable materials from a waste container after the customer has set it out for collection. The two sections work together to protect the value the city's contracted hauler captures from recyclables: a resident is free to sell scrap directly, but once the blue container hits the curb under the city's program, scavenging it is a code violation like any other Chapter 3 offense.