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

Section 6-3.607 of the Watsonville Municipal Code, in Chapter 6-3, City Utilities, protects the City's curbside stream from scavenging. Subsection (a) applies Sections 41950 and 41951 of the Public Resources Code: no person, other than the authorized recycling agent of the City or County, shall remove paper, glass, cardboard, plastic, used motor oil, ferrous metal, aluminum, or other recyclable materials that have been segregated from solid waste and placed at a designated recycling collection location. The protection covers residential, multifamily residential, and commercial curbside collection programs authorized by a City, County, or local agency for the purpose of collection and recycling.

Subsection (d) fixes ownership: from the time of placement of recyclables in any City container, the materials become the property of the City. That is why taking material out of a cart set at the curb is a Code violation and not only a nuisance. The Director, defined in Section 6-3.100 as the Watsonville Director of Public Works and Utilities or an authorized representative, administers the program and designates which materials customers must recycle under subsection (b).

Sorting rules sit in Section 6-3.604. No recyclable materials shall be placed in solid waste containers, no solid waste materials shall be placed in recycling containers, and placing material in any container without the permission of the customer responsible for payment of service is itself an unacceptable use. Section 6-3.608(b) adds that no person shall bury or burn solid waste and recyclables at any place in the City for whatever purpose.

These rules apply in the City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California. Santa Cruz, Capitola and unincorporated Freedom are separate jurisdictions.