Most contractors think about debris as a logistics problem. Order a bin, fill it, get it hauled. In Los Angeles it is also a compliance problem, and that is the part that shows up late, usually at final inspection, usually attached to money the city is already holding.
This guide covers the three rules that actually matter, what changes across LA, Glendale, Burbank, and the county, and the paperwork worth keeping from day one.
Rule 1: Your hauler needs a City permit
If a company is collecting solid waste or C&D debris inside City of Los Angeles limits, it is required to hold a valid AB 939 Compliance Permit from LA Sanitation. This is not optional and it is not a formality. Permitted haulers pay a compliance fee based on gross receipts and file quarterly reports on where every load went. That reporting chain is exactly what makes your debris traceable later.
The City publishes its permitted waste hauler program and maintains a public list of permitted companies. Before you book a bin for a permitted job, it is worth thirty seconds to confirm your hauler is on it.
Why it matters to you and not just to the hauler: if your debris moves on an unpermitted truck, there is no clean paper trail behind it. When your building department asks for proof of diversion, you are trying to reconstruct something that was never documented.
Rule 2: The debris has to go to a certified facility
Since 2011, the City of Los Angeles has required that all mixed C&D waste generated inside city limits be delivered to a City-certified C&D processing facility. Not the nearest landfill. Not whichever transfer station has the shortest line. A certified processor, because that is where the material gets sorted and where the diversion percentage gets measured and reported.
The City attached penalties of up to $5,000 per load to debris that ends up somewhere else. In practice your hauler absorbs that risk, but you inherit the consequence, because an uncertified destination produces a receipt your city will not count.
LA County tightened its own rules for unincorporated areas in August 2024. Facilities now need third-party certification of their recycling rates, which means the receipt itself carries more weight than it used to.
Rule 3: You have a diversion number to hit
Statewide, CALGreen sets a baseline of 65% diversion for covered projects, and it generally covers new construction, additions over 1,000 square feet, and demolitions over 1,000 square feet. Your local jurisdiction can go higher, and several around us do.
| Where | Diversion target | What else to know |
|---|---|---|
| City of Los Angeles | CALGreen baseline, 65% | Mixed C&D must go to a City-certified processor. Hauler must hold an AB 939 permit. |
| Unincorporated LA County | 70% mixed C&D 100% soil debris | Updated August 2024, up from 50%. Facilities need third-party certification. |
| Glendale | Per ordinance, plan-based | Diversion security deposit up to $30,000. Certified mixed debris facility required. |
| Burbank | Per ordinance, plan-based | Deposit refunded on recycling receipts filed within 90 days of permit final. |
| Pasadena | 75% for qualifying projects | Higher than the state baseline. Check your permit conditions. |
Requirements change. Treat this table as orientation, then read the conditions printed on your actual permit, because that document is what the inspector is working from.
The deposit is the part that stings
This is where compliance stops being paperwork and starts being cash flow.
Glendale collects a diversion security deposit before it issues the permit. It is calculated off project valuation, roughly 6% for demolition and 2% for single-family construction or additions, capped at $30,000. That money sits with the city until you file a compliance report proving your debris went where it was supposed to go. If you cannot prove it, the deposit is forfeited.
Burbank runs the same idea with a hard clock. Recycling receipts go to the Building Division within 90 days of permit final. Deposits on expired permits are subject to forfeiture.
Neither city is trying to trap you. Both are trying to make documentation happen. But a contractor who does not collect weight tickets during the job is a contractor trying to reconstruct six months of hauling from memory while thousands of dollars sit in escrow.
"But I thought recycLA covered this"
Property managers ask this constantly, and the confusion is understandable.
recycLA, the Zero Waste LA franchise system, gives one hauler exclusive rights to ongoing trash and recycling service for commercial buildings and multifamily properties of five units or more. If you manage a building in the City of LA, your regular bins are locked to your zone's franchise hauler.
Roll-off bins for construction and demolition debris are exempt. The franchise haulers do not have exclusive rights to temporary C&D roll-offs. When you are doing a unit turn, a tenant improvement, a re-roof, or a full renovation, you can hire any permitted C&D hauler you want.
Which means you can shop that work on price and service instead of taking whatever your franchise hauler quotes. A lot of property managers have never been told this.
Sort smart, or lose your diversion rate
Here is the practical lever most crews miss. How you load the bin decides your diversion number before the material ever reaches a scale.
Clean, source-separated loads divert at or near 100%. A bin of nothing but broken concrete goes to an inert facility and comes back as base rock. A bin of clean soil does the same. That matters enormously in unincorporated LA County, where soil debris now carries a 100% recycling requirement.
Mixed loads divert at whatever the processor's sorting line achieves, which is usually well short of clean separation. And a single contaminated item can downgrade an entire load. Throw one bag of lunch trash into a clean concrete bin and it is no longer a clean concrete bin.
- Keep concrete, brick, asphalt, dirt, and rock in a dedicated bin. Our 10-yard lowboy exists for exactly this. Its 2-foot walls make it loadable by hand or machine, and it is built for material that would put a taller bin over legal road weight. See our concrete and dirt disposal guide for the full breakdown.
- Run a second bin for mixed debris. Drywall, wood, framing, fixtures, packaging.
- Pull metal separately when there is volume. It diverts cleanly and it has scrap value.
- Keep hazardous material out entirely. Paint, solvents, batteries, tires, electronics, and refrigerant appliances are not dumpster material under any permit. LA County runs free S.A.F.E. collection centers for this.
Two bins sounds like more money. On a job with a real diversion requirement and a deposit attached, it is usually the cheaper path, because a clean inert load is tipped at inert rates and it carries your diversion number on its own.
What to keep from day one
Build a folder at permit issuance. Not at final.
- Your waste management plan as submitted, including whether you are source-separating or running mixed loads.
- Your hauler's permit information. Company name and City permit number.
- Every weight ticket. One per load, showing the facility, the date, the tonnage, and the material type.
- Facility certification for each destination used.
- Your final diversion summary reconciling total tons generated against total tons diverted.
Photograph tickets the day they are handed to you. Paper receipts live in truck cabs and glove boxes and then they do not exist.
The short version
- Confirm your hauler holds a City of LA waste hauler permit before the first drop.
- Confirm the debris is going to a certified processing facility.
- Read the diversion requirement on your permit, not the one you assume applies.
- Separate inert material from mixed debris if a deposit or a diversion target is in play.
- Collect weight tickets as you go, and file them inside your city's window.
Do those five things and debris compliance stops being a problem that surfaces at final inspection.
Frequently asked questions
- Does my dumpster hauler need a permit in Los Angeles?
- Yes. Any company collecting construction and demolition debris inside City of LA limits must hold a valid AB 939 Compliance Permit, also called a Private Solid Waste Hauler Permit, from LA Sanitation. The City publishes the list of permitted haulers, so you can verify your hauler before the bin is dropped.
- What happens if my debris goes to an uncertified facility?
- In the City of LA, mixed C&D waste has to be delivered to a City-certified processing facility. The City set penalties of up to $5,000 per load for debris that goes somewhere else. Separately, if you cannot document where the material went, your building department can hold your diversion deposit and delay your final.
- Am I locked into recycLA for construction debris?
- No. This trips up a lot of property managers. recycLA gives one franchise hauler exclusive rights to your ongoing trash and recycling service, but roll-off bins for construction and demolition debris are exempt from that exclusivity. You are free to choose your own permitted C&D hauler for a temporary bin.
- How do I get my C&D deposit back in Glendale or Burbank?
- Both cities release the deposit after you document your diversion. Glendale wants a completed compliance report tied to your recycling plan. Burbank wants your recycling receipts submitted to the Building Division within 90 days of permit final. Miss the window and the deposit can be forfeited, so collect weight tickets as you go instead of hunting for them later.
- Do I need a waste management plan for a small remodel?
- It depends on scope, not on how the job feels. CALGreen generally pulls in new construction, additions over 1,000 square feet, and demolitions over 1,000 square feet. Your permit conditions are the real answer. Read them at issuance, because the diversion requirement is much easier to hit when you plan the bins around it.