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

Lee County does not run curbside garbage pickup; residents haul their own solid waste to the county's convenience centers under Sec. 22-33, so the code's container rules focus on how waste is stored on the property in between trips rather than where a cart sits on collection day. Sec. 22-16, 'Containers,' requires garbage to be stored only in a container that is durable, rust resistant, nonabsorbent, watertight and easily cleaned, fitted with a close, flytight cover and adequate handles or bails, with enough containers on hand to hold a full week's accumulation; each container must be kept clean enough that no odor or nuisance results.

Sec. 22-17 extends the same standard to bulkier refuse such as lumber, boxes, barrels, bottles, cans, tires, cardboard, old furniture and white goods, requiring storage that resists harboring rodents and vermin and does not create a fire hazard. Sec. 22-18 puts a hard clock on bulky waste specifically: no owner, occupant, tenant or lessee, other than a licensed junk dealer, may place or leave any bulky waste outside the building or dwelling for longer than 72 hours. Sec. 22-19 separately requires the door to be removed from any abandoned icebox, refrigerator or other airtight receptacle left outside where children could reach it.

Sec. 22-15 backs all of this with a weekly removal duty: owners, occupants, tenants or lessees must remove solid waste from the property at least once every seven-day period. The solid waste division of the department of general services administers and enforces the chapter under Sec. 22-168.