Gardena, CA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Gardena Municipal Code § 8.20.020 defines green waste as tree trimmings, wood stumps, grass cuttings, dead plants, leaves, branches, flowers, plant stocks, and dead trees, so long as no piece exceeds six inches in diameter or forty-eight inches in length; anything larger is not accepted as ordinary yard waste. Green waste is treated as a subset of organic waste, and § 8.20.171 requires every residential premises organic waste generator to subscribe to the city's organic waste collection service and to place source separated green container waste in the green cart, keeping it out of the gray/black trash container, the blue recycling container, and the brown food-waste container.

The city may review the size and number of a household's carts to confirm adequate capacity and can require a resident to adjust the service level. Under § 8.20.110(B), the green cart, like every other city-issued container, must stay on the premises except on collection day: it may not be set at the curb more than twenty-four hours before the scheduled pickup and must be pulled back within twenty-four hours after collection, and it cannot be visible from the public right-of-way outside that window. Section 8.20.130(A) sets residential collection between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, with holiday weeks shifting the affected route to the following Saturday. Community Development's code enforcement officers and the city's franchised hauler oversee compliance with the green-container mandate.