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

The San Jacinto Municipal Code defines green waste in § 8.32.010 as organic waste generated from any landscape, including grass clippings, leaves, prunings, tree trimmings, pine needles, weeds, branches and brush not exceeding three inches in diameter. The definition also reaches food preparation scraps, table scraps, food-soiled paper, plants and flowers. Green waste is listed within recyclable materials, so the separation and weekly removal rule in § 8.32.020(C) applies to yard debris in the City of San Jacinto: it must be kept apart from refuse and from other recyclables and removed from the premises not less than once per week.

Section 8.32.160 sets weekly collection for green waste at residences, commercial establishments and construction sites unless the city council authorizes otherwise, and § 8.32.170 has the council and/or the franchisee or permittee publicize the routes, days and approximate hours. Material that is bigger than the definition does not follow the green waste path. Branches over three inches fall into the bulk household waste definition, which lists residential wastes including wood waste, tree branches and scrap wood, and § 8.32.050 restricts curbside placement of bulk items to citywide cleanup events or a special pickup the permittee agreed to in advance. Tree stumps or branches also appear in the noncompactable solid waste definition.

Commercial users face a service trigger. Under § 8.32.020(D), commercial or industrial buildings and multifamily complexes of five or more units that generate four cubic yards or more of solid waste per week must arrange green waste recycling services through the permittee. Under Chapter 8.33, single-family homes are enrolled in the three-container system and place green container organic waste, including food waste, in the green container. A commercial business that hires a gardener must write into the work agreement that organic waste from the job is handled in compliance with § 8.33.030. Section 8.32.080 prohibits burning or burying green waste within the city.