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

330 sets the ownership rule for everything placed at the curb: garbage, rubbish and recyclable materials all become the property of the garbage collector the moment they are placed in a designated receptacle, and the owner or occupant only retains a right to retrieve a mistakenly discarded item up until the collector empties the container. 340 immediately follows it with a blanket ban on unauthorized scavenging: no person may access a collection receptacle to remove garbage, rubbish or recyclable materials placed there for collection, and no one other than a city employee or the garbage collector's own agent may move or interfere with a properly placed receptacle without the written approval of the owner, occupant or person responsible for the premises.

050, which makes it unlawful for anyone besides the official collector to gather waste within city limits except as the chapter allows. Because the recycling stream is legally identical to garbage for ownership purposes under this chapter, a can-picker who pulls cardboard, cans or bottles from a blue container at the curb is taking city property, not abandoned trash, and the prohibition applies equally to a neighbor, a passerby or a commercial scrap collector who has not been given written permission by whoever controls the premises.