Mountain View, CA
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Businesses & Schools
The City offers recycling, compost and trash collection and other related services through our exclusive hauler, Recology. When properly implemented, City programs and services will help your business save money, conserve resources, and keep recyclables and compostables from entering the landfill. Standard collection services available through Recology include:
- Trash collection (carts, bins, debris boxes and compactors) in a variety of sizes and service levels based on your needs.
- Mixed recycling and cardboard collection services.
- Carts and bins at no additional charge.
- Debris boxes and compactors for source-separated materials at a fee.
- Compost collection service for food scraps, food-soiled paper and landscaping debris at a significant discount compared to trash rates.
For more information, please consult Recology’s Commercial Services Guide (available from Recology in Spanish, Chinese, and Punjabi).
To start new service or ask utility billing questions, contact the City of Mountain View Finance and Administrative Services Department at 650-903-6317 or RevenueStaff@MountainView.gov . Current trash, recycling, and compost service rates can be found on the City’s Trash & Recycling Rates page.
To change your existing collection services, contact Recology at 650-967-3034 or ContactUsRMV@Recology.com .
Businesses should ensure compliance with all applicable mandatory recycling and compost requirements (see next section). Recology Mountain View can provide technical assistance to help businesses meet these requirements. If you believe your business may be eligible for a waiver from the requirements, please review the next section, and if eligible complete the Compost and/or Recycling Service Waiver Form.
State and local laws require most businesses to recycle and compost. Businesses producing organic waste (food scraps, food-soiled paper and landscaping plant debris) must keep these materials out of the landfill, arrange for recycling and compost collection services, provide indoor/outdoor collection containers, and educational signage. Please ensure your business complies with all applicable regulations listed below.
MANDATORY COMPOSTING
- Businesses must subscribe to the City’s compost collection service, and ensure that organic or compostable waste such as food scraps and food-soiled paper is properly sorted into compost containers.
MANDATORY RECYCLING
- Businesses and schools that generate four cubic yards or more of solid waste per week shall arrange for recycling services, and ensure that recyclable materials are properly sorted into recycling containers.
TRASH COLLECTION CONTAINERS
- Supply and allow access to an adequate number, size, and location of collection containers for employees, contractors, tenants, and customers.
- Provide containers for collection of organic waste and recyclables in all indoor and outdoor areas (excluding restrooms) where disposal containers are provided for materials generated by the business or its customers.
- In areas onsite where a business does not generate any materials that would be collected in one of the container types, the business does not have to provide that particular container.
- Label and color-code indoor and outdoor containers for recycling (blue), compost (green) and trash (gray or black). Signage is available through Recology.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
- At least annually, provide education and training to your employees on how to properly sort waste.
- Property owners and managers must provide new tenants within 14 days of move-in information about how to properly sort waste, the site’s collection container locations, and usage rules.
- Periodically inspect containers for contamination and provide additional employee training if necessary.
EDIBLE FOOD RECOVERY
- Food facilities have additional requirements under the law to recover edible food for donation. Please consult the Food Facilities page for more information.
These requirements are part of the City’s Mandatory Participation Ordinance, which became effective on January 1, 2022. The City adopted this ordinance to comply with Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), a law designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. When organic waste such as food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard trimmings end up in landfills, they emit methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Organic waste makes up half of what Californians dump in landfills and is the third largest source of methane in the state. Your business’s participation in the compost collection service and proper sorting of organic waste helps address the climate crisis.
Recology Mountain View can provide free technical assistance and other resources to help businesses comply with these requirements. Visit the Zero Waste Services section below or contact Recology Mountain View for more information about available services.
Waivers
Businesses may be eligible for a waiver from mandatory recycling and/or composting requirements if they can provide evidence of minimal generation of organic material or physical space constraints that do not allow for the required collection containers. The types of waivers available are:
- De Minimis Waiver (available for compost collection only):
- Total solid waste collection is more than 2 cubic yards per week, and the amount of organics generated is less than 20 gallons per week, or
- Total solid waste collection is less than 2 cubic yards per week, and the amount of organics generated is less than 10 gallons per week.
- Physical Space Waiver:
- Premises lacks adequate space for the required collection containers.
To apply for a waiver, fill out the Compost and/or Recycling Service Waiver Form and follow the instructions to return it to the City along with any required documentation. An inspection may be required to verify eligibility. Waivers are valid for a maximum of 5 years, after which a business must re-apply and submit evidence of continued eligibility. For more information, contact the Solid Waste Section at 650-903-6311 or Recycle@MountainView.gov .
Notice of Contamination
The City of Mountain View Mandatory Participation Ordinance requires commercial accounts to have sufficient recycling, compost and trash services through Recology and to properly separate materials. As required by SB 1383, Recology Mountain View periodically inspects collection containers for contamination and may issue a Notice of Contamination if unacceptable items are found that require removal.
If you receive a Notice of Contamination, your business must take steps to address the contamination issue and improve material sorting at your property. Continued contamination may result in fees. To assist with compliance, Recology offers free resources such as program signage (stickers and posters), indoor containers, and employee training tailored to your business. For more information or to request assistance, contact Recology Mountain View at 650-967-3034 or ContactUsRMV@Recology.com .
Businesses generate 64% of Mountain View’s total waste stream and are vitally important to helping our community achieve Zero Waste goals. Free assistance is available to large and small businesses and schools to help increase diversion under an exclusive collection services agreement between the City and Recology including:
- Indoor recycling and compost containers: desk-side mini-bins and 23-gallon slim jims.
- Technical assistance and waste audits to help businesses and schools recycle better.
- Program signage (stickers and posters).
Contact Recology at 650-967-3034 or ContactUsRMV@Recology.com .
In addition to the mandatory recycling and organics laws outlined above that apply to all businesses, Food Facilities must comply with other State and City requirements. Visit the Food Facilities page for more information about:
- State and City foodware regulations.
- Mandatory food recovery and donation requirements.
- Free reusable foodware technical assistance.
- Free resources such as sample signage and foodware purchasing guides.
Recycling Clean-Out Service is available for a fee once per year if businesses or schools need a large recycling clean-out. Recology delivers extra recycling containers that remain onsite for up to one week and are serviced as many times as requested by the customer at cost. The service is for regular mixed recyclables only, such as office paper, cardboard, and beverage and food containers.
Bin for a Day is for smaller clean-up projects that do not need a large debris box or may involve lots of loose items. For a fee, Recology delivers a 4-yard recycling, compost or trash dumpster to your property. You load it and they pick it up within 7 days after delivery.
RecycleMyJunk is for clean-up projects where you want Recology to do the heavy lifting and removal for you. Recology provides fee estimates for your consideration.
Debris Boxes for construction and renovation projects must be ordered through Recology, the City’s exclusive hauler for trash, recycling, and compost, including construction and demolition debris. No other debris box rental service may be used. For more information, visit the Construction & Demolition page.
Contact Recology at 650-967-3034 or ContactUsRMV@Recology.com for more information about the above services for businesses and schools.
Does your business have batteries, fluorescent lights, paint, solvents, motor oil, MAPP gas cylinders, propane tanks, or other chemicals?
If your business generates less than 27 gallons or 220 pounds of hazardous waste per month, you may be able to use the Santa Clara County Business Hazardous Waste Disposal Program. Fees for this program are determined by the types and quantities of hazardous materials your business needs collected. It's simple and inexpensive to use.
To find out if your business is eligible, call 1-800-207-8222 and ask for the Santa Clara County Service Representative or visit the County Business Hazardous Waste Disposal Program website for more information.
Apply to become a certified Green Business through our partnership with the County of Santa Clara's Green Business Program and ABAG (Association of Bay
For Certification, contact the City at 650-903-6311 or visit the Green Business Program.
Certified business are also listed in the Green Business Directory where savvy consumers go to find environmentally responsible businesses located here. Consumers and businesses are encouraged to Shop Mountain View to keep your sales tax coming back to your community.