National City, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 9.52.100 of the National City Municipal Code puts the sorting duty on both the hauler and the property. The city's designated rubbish hauler must provide containers for designated recyclables to each of its customers, and the containers given to single-family and multi-family residences and to commercial and industrial entities must effectively segregate the designated recyclables for pickup. Every owner or occupant in charge of property where rubbish, garbage or refuse is generated must separate all recyclable materials from other garbage and combined refuse and place them for collection in the same manner as rubbish, garbage or refuse. The list of materials that must be separated is established by city council resolution.

Section 9.52.090 names the designated recyclables. Residential: newspapers, plastic beverage bottles, aluminum, tin and bi-metal cans, white goods (appliances), glass bottles and jars, and organic materials. Office buildings: office paper, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, aluminum, organic materials and other recyclables currently accepted and permitted by the hauler. Hospitality, including all restaurants and taverns: plastic beverage bottles, glass jars and bottles, white goods, aluminum, tin and bi-metal cans and organic materials. Industrial and construction: dirt, asphalt, sand, land clearing brush, concrete, metal, rock and clean wood. Yard waste: leaves, grass, weeds and wood materials from trees and shrubs. The council can add or delete items by resolution.

Section 9.52.110 sets the mandatory recycling implementation schedule: residential single-family June 1, 1992, residential multi-family July 1, 1993, yard and wood waste April 1, 1993, commercial office and hospitality July 1, 1993, and industrial January 1, 1993. Collection runs through a franchisee: § 9.52.130 says no person provides solid waste collection service in the city except under a franchise granted by the city. Residential and commercial customers must pay the recycling fees set by city council resolution unless a resolution explicitly exempts them (§ 9.52.160). Section 9.52.120 declares solid waste left on any vacant lot, park, street, road, highway or alley a public nuisance, with home composting of yard waste and compostables exempt.