Part 2 — Municipal Collection of Refuse

Except as authorized by §5322 and this Chapter, no person other than the City or its Contractor shall gather, collect or remove any refuse from a place or premise within the City.

Householders hauling occasional loads of refuse or manure, not containing garbage, from their own premises to a legal point of disposal shall be excepted from the provision of this part.

This part shall not apply to the hauling, removal or disposal at a legal point of disposal of grass cuttings, prunings, manure or other trash as a result of gardening or horticulture.

The City Council finds that an exclusive municipal system for the collection of all refuse is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare; that the periodic collection of refuse from all places in the City benefits all occupants of places and premises in the City; that inasmuch as charges are to be assessed for the collection of refuse, it is necessary that said charges be assessed to the occupants of all premises where refuse is produced or generated, regardless of whether the occupant places such refuse for collection in a manner prescribed in this part or not, and regardless of whether the occupant has any refuse for collection, to the end that all persons will place refuse generated or produced on the premises that they occupy for collection in the manner prescribed in this chapter and to the end that the accumulation or scattering of refuse is detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare and the cost of removal thereof should be shared by all persons.

The City Council further finds as follows:

• A. That while there is some variation in the amount of refuse produced at a single family residential location, or a multiple family residential location, such deviation does not justify the expense of measuring the quantities at such residential locations because the expense of measuring quantities at such residential locations would be greater than the extra cost of hauling additional quantities of refuse from a few residential locations in the City.

• B. The amount of refuse produced at places of business varies greatly. The most equitable method of charging for collecting refuse at these locations is based on the amount of refuse produced or generated, the related basis of size and number of containers required for the collection of refuse, and upon differing schedules and regularity of collection.

The City Council finds and determines that a governmental function of the City shall be to provide refuse collection to all places and premises within the City. It shall be the duty and responsibility of each occupant or person in charge of any place or premise within the City to provide for refuse disposal in accordance with the terms and provisions of this Chapter. Refuse disposal shall mean placing all refuse within the time and manner required by this Chapter in containers or bins as herein required for disposal by the City or its Contractor. Refuse so placed for disposal shall become the property of the City or its Contractor and no person other than the City or its Contractor shall remove any refuse so placed for disposal. Nothing herein contained however shall prevent the owner or occupier of any place or premise from selling recyclable materials as defined in the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 as amended from time to time to anyone for a valuable consideration. This section is intended to incorporate and comply with the decision of the California Supreme Court in the case of Waste Management of the Desert, Inc. vs. Palm Springs Recycling Center, Inc., filed March 31, 1994, wherein the court adopts the view that the selling of materials for other use or recycling is distinguishable from the discarding of refuse.

Nothing herein contained however shall prevent the owner or occupier of any place or premises from contracting for the removal and disposal of recyclable construction and demolition debris, as defined in Section 5314, by those contractors licensed by Article VI of the Lakewood Municipal Code.