Starting next week, the City of San Diego will begin delivering new gray trash bins to households eligible for City-provided trash service. For most customers, the delivery will occur on their regular trash day schedule, and crews will remove the old black trash bins within the same day. 

With more than 225,000 households eligible for City-provided trash service, the delivery process is expected to continue over the course of several months, with some properties receiving their new bins in the new year. Gray trash bins will be delivered first, and then the City will deliver new, light blue recycling bins and remove the old ones. The phased rollout ensures that every customer will have the opportunity to receive a new bin, and the City will provide additional opportunity for old bins to be collected if a customer misses their scheduled day. 

The City’s Environmental Services Department (ESD) is notifying customers about their bin delivery date and other instructions through mailers being sent to property owner addresses. Anyone who is eligible for City trash service can also look online at sandiego.gov/trash to see their scheduled date.  

Those who opted in for notifications when they set up their account in the Residential Waste Collection Services Portal will also receive text and/or email alerts. 

“We’re excited for customers to experience the benefit of these new containers – newer bins will be less prone to breakage, feature helpful recycling labels to make sorting easier, and come in updated colors to help drivers quickly identify which containers to service,” said Jeremy Bauer, Assistant Director for Environmental Services. “We want residents to rest assured that old containers will be recycled, with the material made available to create new bins. Each new container also includes a scannable tag to help the City track performance and continually improve service, a key part of our commitment to serving customers better every day.” 

Delivery of new trash and recycling bins is expected to continue through late summer 2026. After customers have received their new bins, the City will collect only from the new bins. Until then, the City will continue servicing old containers to avoid disruption in customer service. Old black trash bins and dark blue recycling bins will be picked up by the City and recycled into new materials.  

Green organic waste bins, which were provided to more than 200,000 City households in 2023, will not be provided at this time unless a customer doesn’t already have one or they request an additional green bin. 

While the City’s deadline for customers to select bin sizes and quantities has passed, property owners are still encouraged to set up an account in the City’s Residential Waste Collection Services Portal at wasteportal.sandiego.gov. Setting up an account now will allow customers to more easily make changes to their service level once they have received their new trash bin. Creating an account also unlocks benefits, including receiving updates from the City about services and recycling events, such as Christmas tree recycling and secure paper shredding.  

Anyone who did not create an account will automatically receive the 95-gallon trash and the 95-gallon recycling bins. However, customers will have another opportunity this year to change their bin size and quantity via the Portal within 30 days of receiving the new trash bin. Going forward, customers may change their service level once per year.   

City staff are available to assist anyone who needs help setting up an account or with questions about the bin delivery process. Contact ESD at trash@sandiego.gov or 858-694-7000.