Florence County, SC Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Collection method
- Shared 'green box' sites, no curbside cart pickup
- Placement rule
- All garbage must go inside the container
- Scavenging
- Prohibited; only county officials may enter containers
- Commercial haulers
- Banned from using residential green boxes
- Enforcement
- Florence County Department of Environmental Services
Summary
Unincorporated Florence County has no curbside cart pickup: residents use shared 'green box' collection sites instead. Florence County Code Section 13-1 requires every bag of household garbage to go inside the metal container, bans piling material outside it, and makes climbing into or scavenging through a green box a violation enforced by the Department of Environmental Services.
(1)No material shall be placed outside of the container. All garbage and refuse shall be placed inside the container.(2)Scavenging of materials located in public solid waste collection containers is prohibited. This includes going through or removing materials located in the containers by any means. No person other than legally authorized officials shall climb on, into, on top of, or inside of, public solid waste collection containers.
Full Breakdown
Florence County does not run a municipal curbside collection truck in the unincorporated area; instead the county's Department of Environmental Services maintains metal 'public solid waste collection containers,' known locally as green boxes, at fixed sites around the county, and Chapter 13 of the Florence County Code governs how residents may use them. Section 13-1(1) states plainly that no material may be placed outside the container and that all garbage and refuse must go inside it, so bags left beside a full green box are a code violation, not just an eyesore.
Section 13-1(2) separately bars scavenging: no one may go through, remove materials from, or climb on, into, on top of, or inside a public collection container except a legally authorized county official. Section 13-1(4) bans placing burning or flammable materials in a green box, and Section 13-1(3) bars commercial haulers from using the residential containers at all. The six-yard and smaller green boxes are reserved for household domestic garbage; bulkier items such as furniture, appliances, construction debris and yard trash are excluded and must go to the landfill's collection station or a designated 40-yard roll-off box instead. '
Violations & Fines
Placing material outside a green box, climbing into one, or scavenging through it violates Florence County Code Section 13-1 and is prosecuted under the general penalty provisions of the code; damaging a container is also chargeable. Environmental services officers and law enforcement can cite violators, and repeat offenders face escalating enforcement alongside state litter-law penalties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does unincorporated Florence County pick up trash at the curb?
Can I leave bags of trash next to a full green box?
Is it illegal to dig through a green box for recyclables?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Florence County
Compare Florence County to another location·View the South Carolina trash & recycling overview
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