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SITE NAVIGATION

Recycling & Solid Waste

Container Reviews

Container Review Tags

Recycling & Solid Waste

Container Reviews

The City of Sacramento is conducting reviews of garbage, recycling, and organics containers as required by State law Senate Bill (SB) 1383. The purpose of the reviews is to reduce contamination in the waste stream and educate residents on waste sorting.

These reviews are random visual audits of curbside containers and will give the City data on how well customers sort trash, recyclables and organics. The City takes an education-first approach to container contamination and will not be issuing any fines during these reviews.

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Containers at the curb for collection

Contaimer review: contamination in garbage

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Recylables in the garbage are considered contamination

Sacramento City Code Chapter 13.10 requires that residents separate recyclables and organic waste from trash. Households with excessive contamination may need a separate pick-up or need to remove the contamination and dispose of it in the proper container, at a Household Hazardous Waste Facility, or schedule a Household Junk Pick-up or Appliance and E-Waste Pick-up.

What happens during a container review?

The City’s contractor, SCS Engineers, will lift the lids of your garbage, recycling, and organic containers and visually review the contents. No material will be removed or touched.

If more than 5% of the container is contaminated, staff will take a photo for recordkeeping purposes. A “Let’s Sort This Out” tag will be left noting what contamination was found, and information on what materials go in which container/bin.
If no contamination is found, you’ll receive a “Great Job” tag. View translations of the City’s Container Review Tags.

Neighborhoods and households on each route will be randomly selected for container reviews. Staff will only open containers placed at the curb for collection on service days and will be wearing high visibility vests and name tags for identification.

If you have any recycling questions, please let them know!

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Bagged recyclables and/or garbage in the container is considered contamination

Container Review

This State-mandated container review is taking place June 2025

Why is sorting my waste important?

Contamination impacts recycling operations, prevents materials from being recovered for reuse, increases collection and disposal costs, and increases the need to extract resources such as timber and water for new products. If your recycling or organics container has excessive contamination, a separate truck must come out to service the container as trash. If truck loads become too contaminated, the facility will reject the load and landfill it instead.

Sorting recyclables and organic waste also extends the lifetime of a landfill. When organic waste is placed in the trash container and buried in the landfill, that material breaks down over time and releases methane gas which contributes to global climate change.

By placing your food waste, food-soiled paper, and yard waste in the organics container, you are reducing your environmental footprint and allowing that material to be turned into compost and mulch.

When taking out your recycling, please do not bag your recyclables. The plastic bags get tangled in recycling facilities’ machinery, can cause damage to the equipment, and do not allow for proper recycling material sorting. Keep recyclables loose in your container.