Elk Grove, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- EGMC § 30.20.010(F)
- Required container
- Green cart for organic/yard waste
- Covered materials
- Grass, leaves, weeds, brush, tree trimmings, Christmas trees
- Opt-out option
- On-site or community composting
- Enforcing office
- Recycling and Waste Division
Summary
Elk Grove requires every residential generator to separate grass clippings, leaves, weeds, brush, and tree trimmings as organic waste and place them in the green container, per Elk Grove Municipal Code Section 30.20.010(F). The city's definition of green waste even covers live, unflocked Christmas trees. Residents can skip the green cart only by composting that organic waste on site or delivering it to an approved community composting site.
"Green waste" means organic solid waste that will decompose or putrefy generated from landscapes, including garden and yard waste such as grass, leaves, weeds, brush, bedding straw, and trees (including live, unflocked Christmas trees) and branches, clippings, prunings and trimmings from trees, and any other organic waste designated by the City ... Residential generators shall: a. Separate all organic waste from other solid waste and place this material, including food waste, in the organic waste collection container (the "green container") ... Residential generators may manage their organic waste by preventing or reducing their organic waste, managing organic waste on site, and/or using a community composting site pursuant to 14 CCR 18984.9(c).
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4937385; v2 updated 2026-05-13; through 05-13-2026).
Full Breakdown
010 folds the organic waste program into every residential generator's mandatory solid waste subscription. Subsection (F) requires residents to separate all organic waste from other solid waste and place it, including food waste, in the organic waste collection container, the green container, rather than mixing it into garbage or recycling. 010 defines green waste broadly to cover organic solid waste from landscapes, including garden and yard waste such as grass, leaves, weeds, brush, bedding straw, trees and branches, clippings, prunings and trimmings, plus whole live, unflocked Christmas trees.
Prohibited container contaminants, such as bagged construction debris or treated wood, cannot go in the green cart under subsection (F)(2). 9(c) instead of subscribing to green-container service. 020. The city's franchised residential hauler distributes and services the carts, and until green, blue, and gray carts are issued, residents must use whatever containers the hauler designates for each waste type. Elk Grove incorporated in 2000, so pre-incorporation Sacramento County yard-waste habits no longer control; Title 30 of the Elk Grove Municipal Code governs collection inside today's city limits.
Violations & Fines
Mixing yard waste into the garbage or recycling cart violates Elk Grove's waste separation rules and is treated as a public nuisance, enforced under Elk Grove Municipal Code Chapters 1.04, 1.08, 1.12, and 16.18 as incorporated by Section 30.10.100. Persistent noncompliance lets the city adjust or restrict a household's service level, and if a resident refuses or fails to arrange organic waste collection, the city may have the uncollected material removed at that resident's own expense under Section 30.20.010(A).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use the green cart for yard waste in Elk Grove?
What yard materials count as green waste?
Can I be penalized for putting yard waste in the wrong cart?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Elk Grove
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