Where dog poop goes in each South Bay city

Updated October 1, 2026

Every city on the Peninsula and in the South Bay agrees on one thing: dog waste is trash. They disagree on almost everything else, including who picks it up, what color the cart is, and whether recycling goes in a separate bin at all. Here is the city-by-city version, checked against each city's or hauler's own pages.

The short answer

Bag it, tie it, and put it in the trash cart. Not the green organics cart, not the blue recycling cart, and not loose. In most cities the trash cart is gray or black. In Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills, recycling goes in with the trash, so the bag matters even more.

LA County's animal rules also expect owners to regularly remove pet waste from their own property, not just pick up on walks. The cart is the last step in that process.

City by city

City	Who collects	Where dog waste goes
Palos Verdes Estates	Athens Services	The single mixed container. Athens sorts it later, so bag it well.
Rancho Palos Verdes	EDCO	Gray cart. EDCO's RPV guide lists pet waste as household trash.
Rolling Hills	Republic Services	Trash container. Recyclables mostly go in with trash, and green waste is kept separate. Pickup is twice a week.
Rolling Hills Estates	WM	Gray trash cart. WM asks that all trash be bagged.
Manhattan Beach	WM (franchise since July 2020)	Gray trash cart, bagged, lid closed. Green is yard waste and blue is recycling.
Hermosa Beach	Athens Services	Black cart. Athens lists dog waste as trash.
Redondo Beach	Athens Services	Gray landfill cart. The city says pet waste belongs in the trash.
Torrance	City of Torrance	Black bin. The city bans animal waste from the green bin.
Lomita	Athens Services	Black "refuse only" container.
San Pedro	LA Sanitation	Black bin, in tightly tied, watertight bags.
Harbor City	LA Sanitation	Black bin, same rules as San Pedro.
Carson	WM	96-gallon gray cart with a black lid, bagged, out by 7am.

Why not the green cart?

Green carts feed composting and organics programs, and those programs are built for yard trimmings and food scraps. Dog waste can carry parasites and bacteria that a backyard pile won't reliably break down, so cities keep it out of the organics stream. Torrance is the most direct about it and bans animal waste from the green bin outright. None of the twelve cities' guides we checked lists pet waste as acceptable in green or blue.

That includes bags labeled compostable. The label describes the bag, not what's inside it, and the cities above still list the contents as trash.

Why not leave it, or hose it away?

Redondo Beach's pet waste page makes the case plainly. Waste left outdoors washes into storm drains when it rains, and storm drains here go to the ocean, not a treatment plant. A yard that drains toward the street sends whatever is on the lawn along for the ride. Hosing it into the gutter only moves it faster.

In Palos Verdes Estates, the city code goes further and spells out the route for waste picked up in public: into a sealed bag, then a trash can.

Keeping the cart bearable

Double-bag and tie. LA Sanitation asks for tightly tied, watertight bags. That's good advice everywhere.
Close the lid. WM's Manhattan Beach and Carson pages both ask for bagged trash with the lid closed. A closed lid also keeps flies out and smell in.
Time it with pickup. If your yard gets cleared right before collection day, waste sits in the cart for less time. In Rolling Hills, with trash collected twice a week, that happens on its own.
Leave room for the lid. If the cart is nearly full, hold a bag or two for next week rather than propping the lid open. Your neighbors' noses will thank you, quietly.

Hosting, moving or catching up

A one-time cleanup after a long gap can fill more bags than a normal week. Spread them over a couple of collection days if your cart is small, rather than leaving extra bags beside it. WM's pages ask that the lid close, and cities on the Peninsula list trash as a coyote attractant, so loose bags on the curb are best avoided.

What we do

On every visit we double-bag what we pick up, tie it, put it in your trash cart and close the lid, following the rules for your city in the table above. If you'd rather it not go in your cart at all, we offer a haul-away add-on.

City pages

Dog waste removal in Palos Verdes Estates · Dog waste removal in Rancho Palos Verdes · Dog waste removal in Rolling Hills · Dog waste removal in Rolling Hills Estates · Dog waste removal in Manhattan Beach · Dog waste removal in Hermosa Beach · Dog waste removal in Redondo Beach · Dog waste removal in Torrance · Dog waste removal in Lomita · Dog waste removal in San Pedro · Dog waste removal in Harbor City · Dog waste removal in Carson