Charleston, SC Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

City Code Sec. 14-46(c) addresses yard waste inside the same subsection that mentions composting: leaves and grass set out for city collection must go in brown paper bags made for leaf and clippings disposal, placed at the curb, with the resident responsible for supplying the bags. Loose leaves or grass piled at the curb without bagging will not be collected at all, and household garbage cannot be mixed into the same bag; if it is, the resident has to separate it or the city will not take it.

The subsection closes with the operative line for this topic: home composting of leaves and grass is encouraged for all residents. That is the entire extent of the city's composting rule, it is an encouragement, not a mandate, and the code sets no bin design, setback, size or odor-control standard for a home compost pile the way it does for garbage containers under Sec. 14-46(a). In practice this means composting is a way for a resident to avoid the bagging requirement altogether rather than a separately regulated activity, and there is no permit, registration or inspection tied to keeping a compost pile on residential property under Chapter 14. Residents who compost are not required to notify the sanitation division, unlike bulk pickup under Sec. 14-46(b).