Black Bin (Trash)
All household trash items must fit loose inside the black cart with the lid completely closed. Loose bags stacked next to automated tracks will not be collected by route drivers.
Accepted Items
- ✓Plastics #3 and #6 (hard & foam versions)
- ✓All black plastics and single-use utensils
- ✓Flimsy plastic grocery bags, bubble wrap, and film packaging
- ✓Diapers, sanitary products, and bagged pet waste
- ✓Broken ceramic dishes, flower pots, and mirrors
- ✓Laminated or plastic-coated paper goods and receipts
Blue Bin (Recycling)
All dry recyclables must be placed into the blue container loose, empty, dry, and entirely unbagged. Encapsulating clean recyclables inside grocery sacks will cause the sorting facility to reject the load.
Accepted Items
- ✓Clean, dry paper products, mail, magazines, and newspapers
- ✓Rigid plastics including beverage bottles and detergent jugs
- ✓Aluminum beverage cans, tin food cans, and clean foil items
- ✓Glass bottles and jars (all colors, rinsed empty)
- ✓Flattened dry cardboard boxes and clean paperboard packaging
Do NOT Include
- ✕Loose plastic bags, dry cleaning bags, or cellophane films
- ✕Polystyrene foam packaging blocks or cups
- ✕Food-contaminated pizza boxes or greasy sheets
- ✕Electronic waste parts or household consumer batteries
- ✕Bathroom tissues, padded Tyvek envelopes, or photographs
Yard Waste Bin
Organics and kitchen trimmings must be mixed completely loose within the green cart. Do not place organic waste or food scraps inside plastic or biodegradable bags, as they ruin the composting process.
Accepted Items
- ✓Fresh lawn clippings, grass thatch, and garden weeds
- ✓Dry garden leaves, shrub prunings, and small twigs
- ✓Household food scraps, fruit skins, and vegetable trimmings
- ✓Meat fragments, poultry bones, dairy scraps, and bread crusts
- ✓100% fiber-based paper egg cartons, napkins, and kitchen towels
- ✓Compostable paper to-go containers and servingware
Bulky Item Pickup
Frequency
Unlimited Free Curbside Pickups (Advance request required)
Placement
Oversized bulk items must be positioned neatly at the street curb edge only on your assigned collection day after confirming your appointment. Do not block active traffic lanes or pedestrian walkways.
Accepted
- ✓ Large home furniture (sofas, mattresses, tables, recliners)
- ✓ Major household appliances (refrigerators, washers, dryers)
- ✓ White goods and household fixtures
Not Accepted
- ✕ Liquid chemicals, solvents, and oil-based paints
- ✕ Loose construction demolition debris, concrete, or drywall
- ✕ Automotive components, vehicle tires, or engine blocks
- ✕ Electronic waste parts (must be scheduled via separate free e-waste loops)
Curbside residential bulk extraction is provided free of charge by the city's franchise agreement, but building managers or tenants must catalog their large items before staging them.
Holiday Schedule
General Rule
When an observed major holiday occurs on a scheduled weekday, residential collection routes for the holiday and all remaining service days for that week shift back exactly one business day. Regular Friday adjusted loops are completed on Saturday.
Yard Waste Exception
Green organic waste and recycling collection schedules follow the identical one-day delay structure implemented for regular trash during holiday service shifts.
If a major calendar holiday falls naturally on a Sunday, sites that receive Sunday service will not be served, and regular Monday through Friday neighborhood routes remain completely unaffected.
Observed Holidays
!Contamination Tips
Do Not Bag Your Blue or Green Cart Streams
Plastic garbage sacks and grocery bags are the most common contaminants in WeHo. Empty recyclables and organics directly into their respective bins completely loose so automated sorting machines can process them.
Keep Flimsy and Black Plastics Out of Blue Carts
West Hollywood's recycling lines do not accept black plastic items, flimsy films, or plastic wrap. These items clog mechanical sorting machinery and must be directed straight into your black trash bin.
Scrape or Wipe Away Heavy Food and Liquid Residues
Before tossing plastic jars or aluminum cans into the blue cart, ensure they are empty of liquid and food. Residual oils and sugars contaminate neighboring clean paper and cardboard packages inside the collection truck.
Seasonal Information
Post-Holiday Tree Recycling
December to JanuaryAthens Services collects natural holiday trees on regular pickup days from late December through the first week of January. Residents must strip away all tinsel, stands, lights, and ornaments. Trees treated with artificial flocking or fire retardants are barred from compost lines and must be thrown in the trash.
Summer Heat Compost Odor Suppression
June to SeptemberHigh summer temperatures accelerate food decomposition in the green cart, generating odors. To prevent flies and pests, consider layering kitchen scrap fractions beneath dry yard trimmings and keep container lids sealed tight.
Winter Canyon and Run-off Storm Safety
November to MarchDuring heavy seasonal rain storms along the Hollywood Hills border, ensure curbside bins are placed securely on level pavement and not positioned in active street gutter channels. Keeping neighborhood storm paths clear prevents trash from washing into regional watersheds.
About West Hollywood Waste Management
Urban Sanitation Logistics and Franchise Systems in West Hollywood
The City of West Hollywood orchestrates its residential waste collection, municipal resource recycling, and organics recovery through an exclusive franchise agreement with Athens Services. Given WeHo's unique dense footprint, the framework supports a mix of smaller single-family configurations (1-4 units) and high-density multi-family properties. While low-density homes follow a fixed weekly map, large apartment networks with 5+ units are monitored continuously and receive tailored multi-day collections to manage large municipal trash volumes and eliminate alleyway clutter.
Standard Visual Carts and Mechanical Loading Clearances
Standard 1-4 unit residential subscribers are issued three color-coded rolling containers to ensure neat separation at the curb line. Single-family networks operate using a black container for landfill refuse, a blue cart for commingled clean dry packaging, and a green container for yard vegetation and food components. In accordance with California's long-term environmental roadmap, the state requires a transition toward standard gray cart bodies with colored lids by 2036 to standardize recycling infrastructure across the state.
State SB 1383 Framework and Mandatory Kitchen Composting
In strict alignment with California State Senate Bill 1383, resource separation of organic waste streams is mandatory for all West Hollywood residents, including tenants in multi-family complexes. The green organics cart processes residential yard trimmings along with everyday kitchen food scraps, leftovers, plate waste, and food-soiled paper goods. Diverting these materials from landfills suppresses methane output, shifting local organic feedstock directly to regional agricultural composting centers.
Mitigating High-Density Side Contamination Incidents
Because West Hollywood features many shared multi-family spaces, automated contamination auditing is highly active. Athens Services and the city carry out random visual route reviews and deploy smart truck camera technologies to verify that non-recyclables are not hiding inside blue or green containers. Bins found to have wrong items, excessive plastic bags, or overfilled lids that fail to seal tightly are tagged and skipped to protect the local recovery line.
Drop-off Facilities
SoCal Transfer Company
1908 Frank St, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Materials Accepted
UCLA S.A.F.E. Center (Hazardous Waste)
550 Charles E. Young Dr West, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Materials Accepted
Frequently Asked Questions
How do West Hollywood residents arrange for a free bulky item pickup?
Residents can schedule large-item pickup by calling Athens Services directly at 1-888-336-6100 or completing the digital Bulky Item Request form on the Athens Services site. Once scheduled, place your items at the street curb edge on your normal collection day.
Can I use standard plastic bags to hold my kitchen scraps in the green cart?
No. West Hollywood strictly prohibits placing food waste or green waste inside plastic bags, including bags labeled as compostable or biodegradable, because they don't break down at the processing facility. Food scraps must be dropped loosely into the green organics barrel.
Where can I safely discard home hazardous waste items like old paint and electronics?
Hazardous products, consumer batteries, tires, and chemicals are banned from all curbside rolling carts. Residents can drop off these materials for free at the nearby UCLA S.A.F.E. Center. For electronics (e-waste), residents can also call Athens Services at 1-888-336-6100 to set up a free curbside collection appointment.
What should I do if my recycling or trash bin is damaged or missing?
If your rolling container suffers from a missing lid, cracked base, or broken wheel, you can arrange a free repair or exchange. Residents can call Athens Services at 1-888-336-6100 to speak with a representative and request a new container.