Santa Maria, CA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

05 of the Santa Maria Municipal Code makes the City the sole lawful collector of refuse and recycling generated anywhere within the corporate limits. Subsection (a) bars moving or transporting refuse or recycling through the City except in vehicles the City owns and operates or in vehicles the City Manager has approved in writing. Subsection (b) goes further: collecting, burying or otherwise disposing of refuse or recycling within the City is unlawful except as the chapter allows, and the City reserves unto itself the exclusive right to collect, transport and dispose of all refuse and recycling produced and found in Santa Maria.

Two narrow carve-outs exist in the same section. Occupants may still transport or dispose of refuse and recycling produced on their own premises, but they remain on the hook for the standard collection charge under the chapter's fee schedule even if they never use City pickup. A gardener, landscaper or repair contractor may also haul away waste created incidentally by the service they perform on a property, but only if that contractor holds a current City business license for the primary work being done. 12 gives the Police Chief, Fire Chief and health officer authority to enter premises to check for unlawful accumulation or unauthorized handling of refuse and recycling. 05(d), which is the legal basis the City uses to treat can and bottle scavenging as unlawful collection under this section.