Orem, UT Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 15-1-4(C) of the Orem City Code, part of Categories of Collection Service, treats recycling as a third, separate track alongside the City's standard receptacle service and container service. The section does not create a mandatory curbside recycling program; instead it clarifies that nothing in Chapter 15 stops recyclable solid waste from being collected, so long as the collector is either the City itself or a solid waste contractor that holds a license issued under Article 15-4. Material collected under this recycling track cannot simply be set out the way regular trash is: it must go into containers that are specifically provided for recycling purposes, separate from the receptacles or containers described for the regular services in subsections (A) and (B) of the same section.

The code carves out one practical exception for cardboard, which is bulky and hard to fit into a bin: cardboard may be placed on the ground next to the recycling containers while it waits for pickup, rather than being crammed inside. Because Article 15-4 licensing and the general solid waste definitions in Section 15-1-3 govern who may operate as a collector, an unlicensed hauler running a side recycling route in Orem falls outside this authorization even if the materials collected are genuinely recyclable.