Forsyth County, NC Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Sec. 19-5 puts the sanitary-storage duty on the owner or occupant of any property, not the collector. Subsection (1) requires garbage to go in a container that is durable, rust resistant, nonabsorbent, watertight, and easily cleaned, with a close-fitting fly-tight cover and handles or bails for carrying; dumpsters, rollout carts, and other sized receptacles all qualify if they meet those same specs. The county sets a capacity floor, not a ceiling: containers must together hold at least one week's accumulation of garbage, and each one has to stay clean enough that it creates no odor or nuisance.

Subsection (2) covers non-putrescible refuse and recovered material such as lumber, boxes, barrels, bottles, cans, tires, paper, cardboard, rags, bulky waste, and white goods, requiring storage that resists rodent and vermin harborage and doesn't create a fire hazard. Subsection (3) sends hazardous waste to whatever state or federal storage rule applies instead of the general container rule. Subsection (4) is the enforcement backstop: any container, whether a garbage can or a dumpster, has to be maintained so it doesn't create a nuisance or unsanitary condition, and a broken container must be swapped for one that meets the rule, not patched or left in place.

Subsection (5) separately bars leaving an abandoned white-goods receptacle with an airtight door accessible to children without first removing the door, and subsection (6) requires sharps to go into a sealed, puncture-proof container before disposal. Sec. 19-2 gives the county manager enforcement authority, including equitable remedies such as injunctions, and Sec. 00-per-day civil penalty.