Rockdale County, GA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Section 78-14(a) defines composting as the controlled biological decomposition of organic matter into a stable, odor-free humus. Subsection (b)(4) then lists practices the county specifically treats as acceptable and meeting the intent of reusing or recycling yard trimmings to the maximum extent feasible: naturalized, low-maintenance landscaping that needs little or no cutting; grass recycling by mowing high and letting clippings lie; stacking branches into brush piles that serve as wildlife habitat and decompose gradually; composting on the site where the material grew, then working the finished compost back into the soil there; chipping woody material on-site; collecting and transporting trimmings elsewhere to be chipped or composted later; and chipping woody material for later use as fiber fuel.

Subsection (b)(5) makes clear these on-site practices are not mandatory: recognizing that an individual owner or lessee may not be able to feasibly adopt them, the county lets trimmings instead be collected and removed to an approved disposal site, as long as the mixing, lined-landfill and bundling restrictions in § 78-14(b)(1) through (3) are still followed. Trimmings can also go to the county recycling and transfer station under the board's operations policy adopted October 8, 1996 (§ 78-14(b)(6)). Administration and enforcement of Chapter 78 rest with the board of commissioners or its designee under § 78-2.