As part of the City and state requirements under the SB 1383: Short-Lived Climate Pollutants regulations, all residents and businesses must have access to recycling and organic waste service and must separate out recyclables and organic waste from the trash. This has been mandatory in Davis since 2016. Recology Davis provides unlimited recycling service at no additional cost to customers. Basic organic waste collection service (one organics cart) is also available at no additional cost to customers. Additional fees exist for additional organic waste collection carts or more frequent service.

The law allows for businesses and residents to request waivers from collection service that may be issued under specific conditions, which are described in each subsection below. 

Property owners and/or business owners can request to be waived from the requirement to have recycling and/or organic waste collection service under either a physical space waiver or a de minimus waiver. By State law, only businesses may be approved for a de minimus waiver. 

Please note: Approved waivers do not exempt property owners or businesses from the SB 1383 regulations. These waivers only exempt them from portions of the law related to having their own recycling and/or organic waste collection service. Businesses have additional obligations under the SB 1383 regulations that may still be required even if a waiver is approved.

Property owners and/or business owners can request to return their own recycling and/or organic waste collection carts if they will be sharing recycling and/or organic waste collection carts with a neighbor. 

Property owners and/or business owners interested in sharing recycling and/or organic waste collection carts must fill out a Recycling and Organic Waste Cart Share Request Form. This form must be signed by both property owners/business owners. 

If approved for a cart share request, Recology Davis will remove the unused carts. The property owners and/or business owners must continue to sort recyclable and organic wastes and place them into the appropriate cart and not in the trash. Both properties/businesses must have full access to the recycling and/or organic waste carts and the recycling and organic collection service level must be sufficient to collect all recyclable and organic waste generated from both properties/businesses involved in a cart share.  

The City and/or Recology Davis will perform occasional inspections of the Recology Davis trash, recycling and organic waste collection bins to ensure that waste diversion is still occurring. If a significant amount of recyclables and/or organic waste is found in the trash, the approved cart share request will be cancelled and Recology Davis will provide recycling and/or organic waste cart(s) to each customer.

Approved cart share requests expire five years after the approval date and upon either property/business changing ownership, at which time the properties/businesses will need to submit a new request or Recology Davis will provide recycling and/or organic waste cart(s) to each customer.  

Recycling and Organic Waste Cart Share Request Form (PDF)

Recycling and Organic Waste Collection Wavier Request

Property owners and/or business owners can request to be waived from the requirement to have recycling and/or organic waste collection service under either a physical space waiver or a de minimus waiver. By State law, only businesses (not residential accounts) may be approved for a de minimus waiver. 

Single-family residential property owners, businesses and multi-family properties may submit a physical space waiver if they lack the physical space for a recycling and/or organic waste collection cart. 

Before submitting a physical space waiver, take a look at your waste service and see if your trash bin/cart or organic waste cart can be reduced in size to free up some space. Trash service comes in a variety of sizes and service frequencies. Reducing your trash service can save money. Organic waste carts come in three sizes: small (32 to 35-gallon), medium (64 to 65-gallon) and large (95 to 96-gallon). If space is an issue, getting a smaller sized cart may help.  

The City cannot approve physical space waivers without evidence from its own staff, contract hauler, licensed architect, or licensed engineer demonstrating the lack of space. All physical space wavier requests must provide evidence of the lack of space for recycling and/or organic waste collection carts.

Examples of physical space waivers that are not likely to be approved:

• Single-family residences with a garage, carport or access to a side yard/back yard
• Businesses with a trash enclosure that is also used to store various equipment
• Businesses with multiple large trash bins

Examples of physical space waivers that might be approved:

• Single-family residences without a garage or carport and with “zero lot lines” (no access to side yards, backyard except through the house). 
• Businesses without a waste enclosure that stores waste bins inside their building

Recycling and Organic Waste Collection Wavier Request Form (PDF)

By State law, only businesses may be approved for a de minimus waiver. Single-family residential customers may not receive a de minimus waiver.

A de minimus waiver may be approved for businesses that generate very small amounts of recyclable and/or organic wastes. This may be the case if a business uses a shredding company to handle all their recyclable paper waste, or if they have a small number of employees and generate very little waste overall. 

Businesses that wish to receive a de minimis waiver must calculate the total amount of waste they generate per week, which is determined by the amount of solid waste collection service that they have through Recology Davis. If a business is unsure of their current trash, recycling and/or organic waste collection service, they can contact Recology Davis (530-756-4646) to confirm. 

Commercial trash service through Recology Davis is typically measured by the yard, but Recology also provides cart service for trash, recycling and organic wastes, as well as loose collection of cardboard and yard materials. The chart below can help determine the volume of other Recology Davis services in order to calculate the total volume of solid waste collection service.

*These are general estimates for businesses. If a business believes they have more accurate numbers those can be used instead.

If a business generates 2 cubic yards or more of trash, recycling and organic waste per week:

• A business may be approved for a waiver from paper recycling cart service if they generate less than 20 gallons of recyclable paper per week.
• A business may be approved for a waiver from glass, plastics and metal recycling cart service if they generate less than 20 gallons of recyclable glass, plastics and metals per week.
• A business may be approved for a waiver from organic waste collection service if they generate less than 20 gallons of organic waste per week.

If a business generates less than 2 cubic yards of trash, recycling and organic waste per week:

• A business may be approved for a waiver from paper recycling cart service if they generate less than 10 gallons of recyclable paper per week.
• A business may be approved for a waiver from glass, plastics and metal recycling cart service if they generate less than 10 gallons of recyclable glass, plastics and metals per week.
• A business may be approved for a waiver from organic waste collection service if they generate less than 10 gallons of organic waste per week.

Businesses that apply for a de minimus waiver must provide an explanation or description of how it was identified that this property generates less than 10/20 gallons of recyclable and/or organic waste per week. Pictures of the minimal waste generation must accompany the waiver request form.

If approved for a de minimus waiver, Recology Davis will remove the excess carts. The business must continue to sort all other recyclable and organic wastes that were not waived from collection service and ensure that they are placed into the appropriate Recology Davis cart and not in the trash bin. 

Businesses that have approved de minimus waivers must notify the City if circumstances change in such a way that the business no longer satisfies the applicable criteria for a de minims waiver. 

The City and/or Recology Davis will perform occasional inspections of the Recology Davis trash, recycling and organic waste collection bins to ensure that waste diversion is still occurring. If a significant amount of recyclables and/or organic waste is found in the trash, the approved de minimus waiver will be cancelled and Recology Davis will provide recycling and/or organic waste cart(s) to the business.

Approved de minims waivers expire five years after the approval date and upon the business/property changing ownership, at which time the business will need to submit a new de minimus waiver request or Recology Davis will provide recycling and/or organic waste cart(s) to the business.  

Recycling and Organic Waste Collection Wavier Request Form (PDF)

Self-hauling is transporting your waste (in this case, organic waste and/or recyclable materials) off your property yourself instead of using Recology Davis collection services. Self-hauling also includes business back-hauling, when a business transports organic waste and/or recyclable materials to a destination owned and operated by the business using the business’s own employees and equipment.

Per State law and Davis Municipal Code 32.01.020, customers that wish to self-haul their recyclable and/or organic waste must ensure that recyclables and organic wastes are kept out of the landfill. Customers can either sort the materials onsite and bring them to a recycling center or composting facility (as applicable) OR may bring the mixed materials to a high diversion processing facility, as required under SB 1383.

A High Diversion Organic Waste Diversion Facility is defined as a facility that is in compliance with the reporting requirements of 14 CCR 18815.5(d) and meets or exceeds an annual average Mixed Waste organic content Recovery rate of 50 percent between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024, and 75 percent after January 1, 2025, as calculated pursuant to 14 CCR Section 18815.5 (e) for Organic Waste received from the mixed waste organic collection stream. –Davis Municipal Code 32.01.010

Per Municipal Code 32.01.030, the City’s franchise waste hauler, Recology Davis, is the only businesses permitted to haul trash, recycling and organic waste in Davis. Other businesses may not be paid to perform waste collection services in Davis.

Businesses and multi-family properties that are approved to self-haul must keep a record of the amount of recyclable materials and organic waste delivered to each recycling center, composting facility, and/or High Diversion Organic Waste Diversion Facility. This record shall be subject to inspection by the City and must be submitted annually to the City no later than February 1st of each year as part of the conditions of approval. The records shall include the following information: 

• Delivery receipts and weight tickets from the entity accepting the waste. 
• The amount of material in cubic yards or tons transported by the Generator to each entity. 
• If the material is transported to an entity that does not have scales on-site, or employs scales incapable of weighing the Self-Hauler’s vehicle in a manner that allows it to determine the weight of materials received, the Self-Hauler is not required to record the weight of material but shall keep a record of the entities that received the Organic Waste. 

If the City obtains information at any time that a customer that has been approved to self-haul recyclables and/or organic wastes is not keeping these materials out of the trash, the City shall rescind the Self-Haul Permit and direct Recology Davis to provide recycling and/or organic waste carts to the customer, subject to all applicable fees.

The City and/or Recology Davis will perform occasional inspections of the Recology Davis trash, recycling and organic waste collection bins to ensure that waste diversion is still occurring. If a significant amount of recyclables and/or organic waste is found in the trash, the approved self-haul request will be cancelled and Recology Davis will provide recycling and/or organic waste cart(s) to the property.

Customers that have been granted Self-Haul Permits must resubmit an application for a new waiver every year per State law. If a new waiver is not submitted and approved, Recology Davis will deliver recycling and/or organic waste carts to the property.  

Recycling and Organic Waste Self-Haul Request Form (PDF)