Chapel Hill, NC Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 8-5 of the Code of Ordinances requires anyone receiving Chapel Hill's once-weekly curbside collection to use a standard metal or plastic garbage can of thirty-two gallons or less, watertight and fly-proof with a tight-fitting lid for wet garbage, weighing no more than sixteen pounds empty and never loaded past forty-five pounds, or the town's mobile refuse cart instead. Section 8-21(m) sets the same ten-to-thirty-two-gallon range for refuse receptacles generally and requires that they stay covered and in serviceable condition. Containers for refuse, yard waste, and recycling must sit conveniently at the curb but never on the street or sidewalk in a way that creates a hazard or blocks traffic.

Timing is specific: refuse and yard waste must be at the curb before 6:00 a.m. on collection day, recyclables before 7:00 a.m., and every container must be pulled back off the curb before 7:00 p.m. the same day. Residents who cannot manage curbside service because of age or health may ask the town for an exemption to keep rear-yard collection instead. Section 8-6 requires occupants to add extra storage capacity, approved by the town manager and health officer, once a property's garbage volume outgrows what standard containers can hold. Section 8-28 bars any resident or business from letting obstructions, vehicles, or locked gates block town crews from servicing a container.