5 rules for unincorporated Cameron County, Texas.
Verified from official government sources
Cameron County runs a mandatory residential collection program in unincorporated areas: each household must have service, billed at $93.30 per quarter (before tax), with one 96-gallon cart and set collection days. Inside cities, the city or its hauler provides pickup.
Cameron County Solid Waste Division — Residential Solid Waste Services
Cameron County requires that each residential household have solid waste services. Cost of service is $93.30 per quarter (before tax). Each household will receive one 96 gallon container upon signing up for service. All solid waste must be bagged and placed in the container for collection.
For county collection, place your 96-gallon cart within 5 feet of your mailbox by 6:30 AM on collection day, lid opening toward the street, clear of vehicles and obstructions — then remove it from the roadside after pickup.
Cameron County Solid Waste Division — Container placement guidelines
Have your container placed within 5 feet of mailbox by 6:30 AM on your collection day. Place container with lid opening towards the street. Containers must not be blocked by vehicles or other obstructions. All containers must be removed from roadside after collection.
The county Solid Waste Division offers brush and bulk disposal information for unincorporated program customers, and residents can haul large items to an approved solid-waste site. Never dump bulk waste on the roadside — that's illegal dumping under state law.
Texas doesn't mandate residential recycling, and Cameron County's unincorporated collection program is trash-focused with no separate curbside recycling requirement. Some cities and drop-off centers accept recyclables; check your municipality.
Dumping litter or solid waste anywhere but an approved site — including within 300 feet of a highway, on a right-of-way, or into coastal or inland water — is a crime under Health & Safety Code Chapter 365, punished from a Class C misdemeanor up to a state jail felony
Tex. Health & Safety Code § 365.012(a)
A person commits an offense if the person disposes or allows or permits the disposal of litter or other solid waste at a place that is not an approved solid waste site, including a place on or within 300 feet of a public highway, on a right-of-way, on other public or private property, or into inland or coastal water of the state.
See every category we cover for Cameron County — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Cameron County Ordinance Hub →