Starting Wednesday, the City of San Diego will begin delivering new recycling bins to households eligible for City-provided trash and recycling collection service. The City is replacing the older dark blue recycling bins with new, light blue bins to help ensure service is provided only to eligible customers and at the correct service level. The new bins are more durable, easy to identify, better labeled and equipped with scannable tags to improve reliability and accountability.  

For most customers, delivery will occur on their regular trash day, and crews will remove the old dark blue recycling bins on that day as well. With more than 225,000 households eligible for City-provided trash service, the process will be phased over several months, with some properties receiving their new bins in early fall. Deliveries are scheduled by route and collection day of the week and will be conducted citywide, Monday through Friday, until everyone has received their new recycling bin.  

“We’re excited for customers to experience the benefit of these new recycling bins,” said Jeremy Bauer, Assistant Director for Environmental Services. “As with the new gray trash bins, the new recycling bins include scannable tags that will help the City track performance and continually improve service, a key part of our commitment to serving customers better every day. And we want residents to rest assured that old containers are being recycled, with the material made available to create new bins or other plastic products.”  

The City’s Environmental Services Department (ESD) is notifying customers about their bin delivery date through email and mailers being sent to property owners. Anyone eligible for City trash service can also look online at sandiego.gov/trash to see their estimated delivery date using the Container Delivery Lookup tool. Deliveries are based on the collection route and service day, so a customer may see a neighbor across the street get a new bin before they do. If bins go missing and end up on someone else’s property, the new scannable tags will help the City return them to their assigned homes. There’s also a spot on the side of the new bins where customers can write their address, an additional way to ensure bins stay where they belong. 

Based on best practices learned during the rollout of new gray trash bins, the City has streamlined the process for delivering new bins and removing the old ones. Retraction crews will follow the route of the Environmental Services collection truck to ensure that old bins are empty and ready for removal. Also, the City is sending emails and mailers and attaching tags to the new bins with detailed instructions on how to leave out old bins, for how long, and what to do if old bins are not removed within 48 hours. 

In those cases, customers should leave their old recycling bin, and any remaining old black trash bins, out at the collection point for the entire collection day and the following day to ensure removal. If old bins remain after 48 hours, residents should submit a Container Removal Request on Get It Done or call ESD at 858-694-7000. 

Households no longer eligible for City trash service have been directed to sign up for service with a private hauler. Through seven multilingual mailers over the past 12 months, the City has provided step-by-step instructions, a private hauler guide and other forms of support. As of today, 95% of newly ineligible property owners have successfully transitioned. Final Notices of Violation were sent last week to those who have not yet transitioned.  

The delivery of blue bins comes as the distribution of new gray trash bins nears completion, with 96% of customers receiving their new trash bin. The process started back in October, and to date, the City has delivered 231,178 gray bins to 215,610 customers and removed 257,508 old black bins. 

The City’s partner, Rehrig Pacific Company, will continue recycling old bins into plastic regrind for use in making new bins or other products, such as pallets, composite railroad ties and conduit fittings. The initial process takes place locally at ESD’s Collection Services yard.  

“By chipping the bins on site, each truck can carry more material, reducing the number of trips required and lowering overall carbon footprint, said Andrea Deleon, Deputy Director of ESD’s Waste Reduction Division. “Each bin becomes part of a circular process that keeps plastic in use and out of the landfill. When all is said and done, more than 750,000 bins will be recycled!” 

After customers receive their new light blue recycling bins, the City will collect only from those new bins. Until then, the City will continue servicing old containers to avoid disruption in customer service. Collection of recycling materials is bi-weekly. Weekly recycling service will begin July 1, 2027. 

The number of blue bins received by customers depends on what was ordered. Property owners who didn’t make a service-level selection through the online portal or by contacting ESD over the phone will receive one 95-gallon recycling bin. Service-level adjustments, such as swapping sizes or requesting additional bins, are available in the Residential Waste Collection Services Portal starting July 1, 2026. Property owners needing to order larger or additional bins sooner may call Environmental Services at 858-694-7000. If you are not the property owner, please coordinate with your landlord. 

Information about bin delivery and a list of frequently asked questions can be found at  sandiego.gov/trash. For information about financial assistance for the solid waste management fee, visit our website and select Financial Assistance Program. For additional information or support, Environmental Services is here to help. Contact ESD at 858-694-7000.