Macon-Bibb County, GA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- County Code § 22-9
- Alley properties
- Cart must sit next to alley
- No-alley properties
- Within 25 ft of rear of building
- Fenced carts
- Must be reachable without entering fence
- Access limit
- Collectors won't enter garages or carports
- Safety exception
- Unrestrained vicious dog voids pickup
Summary
Macon-Bibb County tells residents exactly where to put solid waste carts for pickup under Code § 22-9: next to the alley if the property has one, or no more than 25 feet behind the main building if it doesn't. Collectors will not enter fenced yards, garages, or carports to reach a cart.
Unless otherwise provided in this Code, if the house, building or premises from which garbage is to be collected and removed is adjacent to an alley, the owner, occupant, tenant or lessee of the premises shall be required to place the solid waste receptacle adjacent to the alley for collection in order that they may be easily accessible to the collector from the outside of any fence that may surround the premises. If it is not practicable to collect and remove the garbage from an alley, or if there is no alley adjacent to the premises, the owner, occupant, tenant or lessee of the premises shall place the containers for collection so that the collector shall not be required to go more than twenty-five (25) feet beyond the rear of the principal building... nor shall the collector be required to service containers situated within a fence unless the containers can be easily removed by the collector without going inside of the fenced area. In no event shall the collector be required to enter garages, breezeways, carports, basements or other structures to make collections. Collectors shall not be required to collect garbage from any premises where a vicious dog is maintained without restraint.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Comprehensive Land Development Resolution: Supplement 4 | Code of Ordinances: Supplement 20).
Full Breakdown
Section 22-9 governs where a solid waste receptacle has to sit on collection day. If the property is adjacent to an alley, the owner, occupant, tenant, or lessee must place the cart next to the alley so the collector can reach it from outside any fence surrounding the premises. Where an alley pickup is not practical, or there is no alley, the container has to be set where the collector will not have to go more than 25 feet beyond the rear of the main building, house, or structure.
Collectors are not required to service a container that sits inside a fenced area unless it can be pulled out without the collector stepping inside the fence, and they will never enter garages, breezeways, carports, or basements to make a pickup. If none of the standard placement options work for a property, the director of solid waste gets to designate where the containers go instead. The section also carves out a safety exception: crews are not required to collect garbage from any premises where an unrestrained vicious dog is present.
None of this overrides the separate yard-trimmings placement rule in § 22-13, which lets brush and other yard waste that will not fit in the cart sit by the curb or roadway shoulder rather than at the alley or 25-foot line.
Violations & Fines
Placing a cart where the collector cannot reach it under § 22-9's alley or 25-foot rule, or without keeping it accessible from outside a fence, is treated the same as failing to prepare waste for collection under § 22-6, a violation with each noncompliant day counted separately; the practical result is usually a missed pickup rather than a citation, since the crew simply will not service an inaccessible container.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I put my trash cart if I don't have an alley?
Will the crew come into my fenced backyard for the cart?
What if my dog is loose in the yard on pickup day?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Macon-Bibb County
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