Sacramento City Code tit. 13, ch. 13.24, art. I — General Provisions | Sacramento City Code (current through Supplement No. 4, July 2026, and Ord. 2026-0022) — Sacramento

Sacramento City Code § 13.24.010 Definitions.

13.24.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter: "Alternative service activity" means the manner in which a business or generator may lawfully divert recyclables or organic material pursuant to this chapter other than through the use of a franchised waste hauler. This includes backhauling, self-hauling, shared service, or third-party hauling. "Backhauler" means a business or generator who transports their recyclables or organic material to a consolidated location to be reused or recycled. "Broker" means a person that, for a fee or other consideration is the customer's designee or authorized representative identified in a customer service agreement with a franchised waste hauler. "Business" has the same meaning as in California Public Resources Code section 42649.8(a) and also includes the owner, operator, or manager of the party contracting for waste material collection service. "Business day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or city holiday. "CalRecycle" means the State of California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. "CCR" means the California Code of Regulations. "CFR" means the Code of Federal Regulations. "City manager" means the city manager or designee. "Collection" means the act of removing waste material from the place it was generated. "Commercial edible food generator" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(7) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Commercial hauler" or "hauler" means any person who loads, collects, hauls, or transports commercial solid waste, that was generated by another person or its employees or subcontractors in the course of providing its principal service, or manufacturing, constructing or assembling its major product; by any means, including, but not limited to, a dumpster truck, a roll-off truck, a trailer, a side-load, front-load, or rear-load garbage truck. "Commercial solid waste" means all solid waste generated by commercial and industrial sources, multi-family residential properties, schools, public agencies, and construction and demolition activities, that is collected by a commercial hauler. "Commercial waste material" means waste material generated by the activities of an owner, operator, tenant, or customer at a business, non-residential property, or multi-family residential property. "Compostable plastic" means plastic material that meets the ASTM D6400 standard for compostability, or as otherwise defined in section 18984.1(a)(1)(A) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Customer" means an owner or generator that contracts for solid waste removal services and enters into a service agreement with a franchised waste hauler or authorized recycler for recycling services. Where several businesses share waste material containers and service, "customer" refers only to the entity that arranges for the service. "Edible food" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(18) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "EMD" means the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department. "Food facility" has the same meaning as in section 113789 of the California Health and Safety Code. "Food recovery" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(24) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Food recovery organization" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(25) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Food recovery service" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(26) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Food scraps" means all food, including, but not limited to, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, shellfish, bones, rice, beans, pasta, bread, cheese, and eggshells. Food scraps excludes fats, oils, and grease that are source separated from other food scraps. "Food-soiled paper" means compostable paper material that has come in contact with food or liquid, such as, but not limited to, paper plates, paper coffee cups, napkins, and pizza boxes. "Food waste" means food scraps, food-soiled paper, and compostable plastic. "Franchise" means a commercial solid waste collection franchise issued under the provisions of this chapter to a commercial hauler within the city. "Franchised waste hauler" or "franchisee" means a commercial hauler holding a franchise issued pursuant to this chapter. A franchised waste hauler may also collect, haul, or transport recyclable materials or organic materials. "GAAP" means the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles comprised of a standard framework of guidelines generally accepted in the United States of America. GAAP includes the established standards, conventions, and rules accountants follow in recording and summarizing transactions, and in the preparation of financial statements. "Generator" means the owner or operator of a business, non-residential property, or multi-family residential property that generates waste material as a result of activities conducted on their property. "Green material" or "green waste" has the same meaning as defined in section 17852(21) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Large event" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(38) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Large venue" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(39) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Local enforcement agency" or "LEA" means the enforcement agency designated by the local governing body and certified by the California Department of Resources and Recovery, also known as CalRecycle, as defined in California Public Resources Code section 40130. "Missed collection" means each incident when a franchisee fails to service a container that was accessible for collection on the service day. "Multi-family residential property" means any multi-family dwelling, building, or group of buildings containing five or more individual dwelling units on a single parcel. Multi-family complexes include, but are not limited to, apartment complexes, and senior housing or care facilities. "National contract" means a contract between a solid waste management company and a multi-sited waste generating company that operates throughout the United States. "Non-residential property" means real property located in the city and used primarily for: 1. Commerce, including but not limited to offices, stores, restaurants, motels, hotels, recreational vehicle parks, theaters, and service stations; 2. Not-for profit organizations; and 3. Institutional uses, including schools, churches, and hospitals. The term non-residential property shall not include any residential units or undeveloped land. "Organic material" or "organic waste" has the same meaning as defined in California Public Resources Code section 42649.8(d). "Owner" means the person who owns a business, non-residential property, multi-family residential property, or single-family residential property managed by an association or other organization. An owner may also be a generator. "Recyclable material" or "recyclables" means materials that have been separated from the solid waste stream prior to disposal and returned for use or reuse in the form of raw materials for new, used, or reconstituted products which meet the quality standard necessary to be used in the market place, and that are not land filled, including, but not limited to, recyclable material designated by the solid waste manager pursuant to section 13.24.550. "Recyclable materials container" means any box, tub, cart, or other container designated or labeled as holding only recyclable materials. "Recycler" means any person or business entity that lawfully collects recyclable materials. "Recycling" means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting materials, including organic material unless otherwise indicated, that would otherwise become solid waste and returning them for use or reuse in the form of raw materials for new, used, or reconstituted products which meet the quality standard necessary to be used in the market place. Recycling does not include transformation as defined in California Public Resources Code section 40201. "Recycling percentage" means the numeric performance of a certified diversion facility, calculated by the solid waste manager. "Removal" means the act of taking waste material from the place of waste generation. "Residential mixed-use property" means residential property combined with office, commercial, or retail use on a single parcel. "Residual" means solid waste destined for disposal, further transfer, processing, or transformation, which remains after processing of recyclable or organic materials. "Rubbish" has the same meaning as defined in section 17225.59 of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Self-haul" or "self-hauling" means waste material being generated and hauled by the same person. "Self-hauling form" means the form provided by the solid waste manager on which a business, non-residential property, multi-family residential property, single-family residential property managed by an association or other organization, owner, or generator certifies that all self-hauling activities will be completed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter or any other applicable law or regulation. "Service agreement" or "customer service agreement" means a written agreement between a franchised waste hauler or authorized recycler and an owner, broker, or generator concerning the collection of waste materials. "Shared service" means the use of waste material containers on an immediately adjacent commercial property after obtaining the written consent of the adjacent property owner and subsequent written approval by the solid waste manager. "Single-family residential properties" means all individual residential dwelling units and complexes that are located on a single parcel and managed by an association or other organization. "Solid waste" means all putrescible and non-putrescible solid, semi-solid, and liquid wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, soiled paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, construction and demolition debris, discarded home and industrial appliances, dewatered, treated or chemically fixed sewage sludge which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semi-solid wastes, and other discarded solid and semi-solid wastes. Solid waste does not include hazardous waste as defined in California Health and Safety Code section 25117, low-level radioactive waste, or medical waste. Solid waste does not include source-separated recyclable materials or organic materials set out for separate collection for the purposes of recycling, and that are not landfilled. "Solid waste manager" means the city's integrated waste general manager of the recycling and solid waste division or designee. "Source separate" or "source-separated" means keeping recyclable materials or organic materials independently containerized or clearly segregated from solid waste at the point of generation for the purpose of reuse, recycling, composting, or some other method of diversion and preventing them from being contaminated by solid waste. "Tenant" means the occupant or person in control, where different than the owner, of any property in the city. "Third-party hauler" means a collector, other than a franchised waste hauler, of bulky items, recyclables, or organic material from a business or generator. "Tier one commercial edible food generator" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(73) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Tier two commercial edible food generator" has the same meaning as in section 18982(a)(74) of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. "Treated medical waste" means medical waste treated in the manner described in subsection (a) of California Health and Safety Code section 25123.5. "Waste material" means solid waste, recyclable material, and organic material. "Waste material container" means any dumpster, roll-off container, compactor, bin, cart, or other container used to hold waste material. (Ord. 2026-0003 § 8; Ord. 2023-0024 § 33; Ord. 2021-0031 § 8; Ord. 2021-0003 § 15)

Sacramento City Code § 13.24.020 Purpose and intent.

13.24.020 Purpose and intent. A. It is hereby declared and determined that the business of collecting and subsequently transporting, transferring, disposing, or recycling of waste materials, kept or accumulated in the city, affects the health, safety, public welfare, and quality of life of the inhabitants of the city. The city further declares and determines that the business of collecting and disposing of waste materials is a public service and should be regulated by the city. The use of any public street or public property in connection with such business is of great concern to the city and should be regulated by the city. Therefore, it is the purpose of this chapter to provide such regulation. B. It is further declared that the business of collecting of solid waste is a distinct marketplace from the business of moving, hauling, landscaping, and cleaning services, that may be occasionally augmented by waste removal or disposal, provided out of necessity to residents and businesses within the city, and generally offered by special businesses. C. It is the further purpose of this chapter to regulate such business in order to ensure its orderly operation, and to minimize the adverse effects it may have on the local environment. It is also the purpose of this chapter to require compensation for the value of the franchise issued by the city. D. It is the further purpose of this chapter to provide for the uniform regulation of commercial solid waste collection, removal, and transportation within the city. E. It is the further purpose of this chapter to provide a mechanism to require the diversion of a sufficient portion of the commercial solid waste stream generated within the city to enable the city to meet the solid waste diversion requirements set forth in California Public Resources Code section 41780. It is the intent of the council in this regard to require all holders of commercial solid waste franchises to satisfy the diversion requirement of this chapter through the diversion of commercial solid waste that is being disposed of in solid waste facilities. It is the intent of the council in establishing a diversion requirement for the franchisee to take into account the existing diversion of recyclable materials by recycling businesses, brokers, and generators that would otherwise become solid waste. It is not the council's intent to allow franchise holders to satisfy this diversion requirement by assuming credit for materials that are not recognized by CalRecycle as recyclable materials or for the diversion of recyclable materials that are currently being diverted by other parties. F. The city hereby elects to have the grant of franchises governed by this chapter, and any ordinances amending this chapter, and these provisions shall constitute the exclusive procedure applicable to the granting of franchises for conducting the business of collecting, transporting, or disposing of commercial solid waste materials. (Ord. 2021-0003 § 15)

Sacramento City Code § 13.24.030 Authority of the solid waste manager.

13.24.030 Authority of the solid waste manager. The solid waste manager may establish and enforce rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this chapter, including rules and regulation regarding the following: A. Commercial waste material generation, storage, recycling, recovery, accumulation, collection, transportation, and disposal; B. Types, size, number, location, frequency of collection, and hours of collection of commercial waste material containers and the vehicles used; C. The operation and maintenance of sanitary methods of commercial waste materials recycling and disposal; D. The designation of recyclable materials and recyclable construction and demolition debris required to be diverted as set forth in chapter 8.124; E. Reporting requirements for franchisees, back-haulers, self-haulers, third-party haulers, and properties with approved shared service; and F. The effective administration of this chapter. (Ord. 2026-0003 § 9; Ord. 2023-0024 § 34; Ord. 2021-0003 § 15)