Pomona, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 62-785, Mandatory commercial recycling
- Effective date
- Applies to all businesses since July 1, 2012
- State authority
- Public Resources Code § 42649
- First-offense fine
- Up to $100 infraction fine (§ 1-7)
- Repeat-offense fine
- Up to $500 for additional violations in a year
- Exemptions
- City manager may exempt zoning or space-limited businesses
Summary
Pomona requires every business to source-separate or otherwise divert its commercial solid waste under City Code Section 62-785, the city's mandatory commercial recycling ordinance adopted under Public Resources Code Section 42649. Businesses that fail to comply face the same escalating fines and administrative citations that apply to all Pomona Code violations.
(a) Purpose. Pursuant to Public Resources Code § 42649, the purpose of mandatory commercial recycling is to preserve local landfill space and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by diverting commercial solid waste to recycling efforts and to expand the opportunity for additional recycling services in Pomona. (b) On and after July 1, 2012, a business shall take at least one of the following actions in order to reuse, recycle, compost, or otherwise divert commercial solid waste from disposal: (1) Source separating recyclable and/or compostable materials from the solid waste they are discarding and either self-hauling, subscribing to a hauler, and/or otherwise arranging for the pickup of recyclable and/or compostable materials separately from the solid waste to divert them from disposal. (2) Subscribing to a recycling service that may include mixed waste processing that yields diversion results comparable to source separation.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: City Code: Supplement 31).
Full Breakdown
Pomona City Code Section 62-785 has required every business in the city to take at least one waste-diversion action since July 1, 2012. A business may comply by source separating recyclable or compostable material and self-hauling it, subscribing to a hauler for separate pickup, subscribing to a mixed-waste processing service that yields diversion results comparable to source separation, or, with the city manager's written consent, sending waste to a waste-to-energy facility. Owners of commercial or multifamily complexes may require their tenants to source separate recyclables, and tenants must comply if the property owner imposes that requirement.
The city runs an education and outreach program under the ordinance and monitors businesses for compliance; the franchised hauler notifies any business found out of compliance. The city manager's office decides which material types the program covers, which can include paper, cardboard, plastics, glass, metals, organics, food waste and non-hazardous construction and demolition debris, and may grant exemptions for reasons such as zoning constraints, insufficient space for bins in a multifamily complex, lack of markets for the material, or a business already recycling a significant share of its waste.
Costs for the mandated service are set by the commercial solid waste franchise haulers rather than the city. Because Section 62-785 does not carry its own penalty schedule, violations fall under the city's general penalty provision, Section 1-7, which authorizes prosecution as a misdemeanor or infraction, with infraction fines of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second and up to $500 for each additional violation of the same provision within a year.
Violations & Fines
A business that fails to take any diversion action required by Section 62-785, such as source separating recyclables or subscribing to hauler service, is subject to Pomona's general penalty under Section 1-7: prosecution as an infraction or misdemeanor, with infraction fines of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second, and up to $500 for each later violation of the same provision within a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all Pomona businesses have to recycle?
Can a Pomona landlord require tenants to recycle?
What happens if a Pomona business ignores the recycling ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pomona
California rules heatmap·Compare Pomona to another location·View the California trash & recycling overview
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