Calvert County, MD Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 119-3 requires any owner, occupant, tenant or lessee to keep garbage, food processing waste, or animal- or vegetable-soiled refuse in a covered container that is watertight, fitted with a tight lid, rust resistant, structurally sound, and easily filled, emptied and cleaned, flytight and rodentproof. A container offered for public collection may hold no more than 30 gallons and must have side handles, a bail, or another lifting device, though power-operated bulk containers are excluded from that size cap. Disposable plastic or paper bags made for solid waste may substitute for a rigid container only if placed inside an approved container or a suitable protective frame (§ 119-3).

Section 119-1 makes the whole solid waste chapter apply throughout Calvert County, expressly including cities, towns, hamlets and villages whether incorporated or unincorporated, so the same container standard reaches Chesapeake Beach and North Beach as well as the unincorporated county. Section 119-6 carves out an exception for the normal accumulation of farm animal waste on land zoned for agricultural use, and § 119-7 separately bars putting hazardous waste in a public litter receptacle, a Green Box, or any other container offered for public collection. The Health Officer enforces the chapter (§ 119-23), and § 119-5 separately bars letting accumulated refuse become a breeding ground for vectors, mosquitoes, insects, vermin or rats.