Recology: reviews, rating and service info

Recology grew out of San Francisco’s scavenger companies and has been 100% employee-owned since 1986. It runs more than 26 local collection companies in California, Oregon and Washington. Recology is the hauler only where its local company holds the city’s contract, franchise or license, and each company keeps its own calendar. Open Recology’s Where We Serve list to find the local company, then confirm on your city’s page that it is assigned to your address.

Where the company collects

By its own count, Recology serves more than 2.5 million people and more than 100,000 businesses in three states. These are the company’s claims, from its site:

• Oregon: Recology Ashland, Clackamas, Portland and Western Oregon.
• Washington: Recology King County lists Bothell, Burien, Carnation, Des Moines, Issaquah, Maple Valley, Mercer Island, North Bend, Redmond, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline and Tukwila.
• California: companies include Butte Colusa Counties, Humboldt County, Recology of the Coast, South Bay, and three in San Francisco. The San Francisco companies still hold the exclusive refuse collection licenses the city gave their founding companies.

A listed city is not always served citywide. Recology says it keeps a local office in every service area.

How to tell if it is your hauler

Find your city in Where We Serve, then check the city’s own solid waste page or the Trashbagging edition for your address. In San Francisco, three Recology companies split the city: Recology Sunset Scavenger, Recology Golden Gate and Recology San Francisco. The top third of your bill names yours; if not, call 415-330-1300.

Holiday schedules and service alerts

There is no company-wide holiday table. Each local company posts its own calendar and notices. Recology San Francisco’s 2026 calendar keeps normal service on Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Monday, October 12), Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11) and Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26); Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, is listed as to be determined. For service alerts, use your local company’s pages and news posts.

What they collect

Recology builds its service around a three-bin system: compost, recycling and landfill. The San Francisco companies collect all three from homes and businesses, and the SF Transfer Station at 501 Tunnel Avenue is a registered construction and demolition debris recycling site. What goes in each bin is set locally, so use your company’s guide.

Customer service

The Contact Us page sends you to your local Recology company. In San Francisco:

• Recology Sunset Scavenger and help finding your provider: 415-330-1300.
• Recology Golden Gate: 415-626-4000.
• Pay by phone: 628-201-0077.
• SF Transfer Station: 415-330-1400.

What this is not

Recology is not one national service with shared rules. A notice from one Recology city does not apply to another, and a Recology name elsewhere in your state does not make it your hauler.

On Trashbagging

Where Recology is confirmed: Recology San Francisco for San Francisco; parts of Northeast and Central Seattle under SPU contract. Everywhere else, check the city first: States & Cities.

State hubs: California · Oregon · Washington.

Context photo: San Francisco skyline viewed from Coit Tower. Supercarwaar, 2015-07-18. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source. Resized for web.