Business and Multifamily Recycling

​ Frequently Asked Questions​

All businesses, regardless of service levels, are required to have recycling service.  

Yes. All multifamily properties (regardless of the number of units) are required to have recycling service.

Haulers differ in what recyclable items are accepted. Generally, it includes paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, aluminum and metal containers, and hard plastics.  Acceptable recyclables must be empty and dry (no liquids or food residue) before placing them in the recycling bin.  

Check with your hauler for more detailed information on acceptable items. Items like flimsy plastic (plastic bags, bubble wrap, food wrappers) and polystyrene (StyrofoamTM) go in the garbage.

State law (AB 939 and AB 341) requires that 50 percent of waste generated must be reduced or recycled. Recycling is the third and most recognizable of the “Three Rs"--Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. By recycling, and buying recycled-content products, every business can make a vital contribution to environmental stewardship.

Contact your hauler, or any franchised ​hauler​ who offers this service, to add recycling service, and begin collecting your recyclable material, or utilize one or more alternative recycling services by completing and submitting the Alternative Service Verification section in the Organic Material Recycling Compliance Form. 

Alternative recycling services include:

a) Third-party recycler – Your business contracts with a recycler, who is not a franchised hauler, who collects and recycles your recyclable material.

b) Self-haul – You take your recyclable materials to a local organics recycling facility yourself.

c) Back-haul - Your business hauls its recyclable materials back to a central or corporate location to be collected for recycling, and,

d) Shared Container- Your recyclable material is placed in another business' recycling container to be recycled under mutual agreeance with both parties.

Once your service is set up, start using your recycling bin! Check with your hauler for detailed information on what items are accepted in the recycling bin.  You will need to notify and educate your employees about the new recycling program. Let them know what is accepted, how recyclables must be prepared – empty and dry --  and how to properly separate their recyclables, and where collection containers are located. Contact your hauler for educational material you can provide to your employees and janitorial staff.

Once your service is set up, start using your recycling bin! Check with your hauler for  detailed information on what items are accepted in the recycling bin.  You will need to notify your tenants of the new program. Let them know what is accepted, how recyclables must be prepared – empty and dry --how to properly separate their recyclables, and where collection containers are located. 

Each business must prominently post signs and provide labeled recycling containers so employees and customers know what and where to recycle. Good places to post recycling notices include copy rooms, mail rooms and break rooms. Placing recycling containers next to garbage bins will reduce contamination. Contact your hauler for label templates.

Please email commercialwaste@saccounty.gov to file a complaint.

In any business where customers or clients regularly discard garbage, a recycling collection container must be provided for them to keep recyclable materials separate from the garbage. Post signs and place labeled recycling containers near garbage bins in customer areas, same as for your employees. For example, recycling bins should be provided in a copy store for customers to use to recycle office paper. 

Yes. AB 827 requires all businesses subject to Mandatory Commercial Recycling and Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling to provide customers with recycling and organics (food waste) collection bins adjacent to all trash bins.

The bin are to collect products purchased and consumed by customers on the premises and must be visible, easily accessible, clearly marked with proper signage, and adjacent to each trash bin. CalRecycle has signage for businesses to use on their Education/Outreach Toolkit: Customizable Outreach Materials page. You can also use your own signage.

More information on AB 827 requirements for recycling can be found on CalRecycle's FAQ, through questions #26-41.

Yes. Full-service restaurants are exempt and do not have to provide properly labeled bins for customers. However, they must provide properly labeled recycling and organic waste bins next to trash bins for employees to separate recyclables and organics for customers.

Additionally, if businesses are not allowed to have customers consume products onsite due to COVID-19, then the businesses do not currently need to have the appropriate bins and signage for their customers to use. When customers are allowed to consume products onsite again, then businesses will need to have the bins and signage.​

If a business is found non-compliant with mandatory recycling services, Sacramento County Code Officers will conduct an inspection and issue Notices of Violation (NOV) to the business or property owner responsible for providing the mandatory services. Fines will only be initiated if business fails to meet the requirements in the NOV to come into compliance.

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