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

Senate Bill 1383 (2016) and its implementing regulations (14 CCR §18984) require every California jurisdiction to provide combined organics collection. Riverside's Food Waste Diversion Program, administered by Public Works in partnership with Athens Services, launched July 1, 2022 and made participation automatic for every residential customer. Yard waste — grass, leaves, weeds, small prunings, garden trimmings — is placed loose in the green cart. Food scraps (fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread, food-soiled paper) must be placed in a durable 1–2 gallon plastic bag (clear preferred but not required) and dropped into the same green cart; bags are separated downstream at the organics processing facility before composting or anaerobic digestion at the Riverside Water Quality Control Plant. The cart lid must close fully — overstuffed carts will be skipped. Oversize branches up to 4 ft long and 4 in diameter that don't fit in the cart may be tied in 18-inch-diameter bundles up to 36 inches long and placed beside the cart on service day. Palm fronds, cactus, ivy, and pampas grass are accepted in the cart but cannot be bundled. Christmas trees are collected curbside from approximately Jan 5 through Jan 24 each year, cut into 4-ft sections and placed in or beside the green cart. Sod, dirt, rocks, treated/painted lumber, plastic plant pots, and pet waste are NOT organics — those go in the trash or to a transfer station.