New Hanover County, NC Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

Sec. 44-1 defines 'bulky items' as inorganic items of such volume that they cannot be placed in a 90-gallon roll-out cart for collection, giving appliances, furniture, play equipment and building fixtures as examples. Sec. 44-43(4) sets the actual service: bulky item collection covers items such as discarded furniture and appliances not practical to containerize, and the county or its franchisee must collect them upon a customer's request within one week of that request. The section lists acceptable items by name: sofas, chairs, beds, refrigerators, washers, dryers, hot water heaters, mattresses and similar items.

Residents must place these materials at the curb no earlier than noon the day before the scheduled collection, mirroring the timing rules for regular refuse, recycling and yard waste under the same section. Eligibility flows from Sec. 44-42: single-family residences and duplexes automatically receive service, while stores, apartments, offices and other higher-volume generators may petition for service if their bulky item, recyclable and yard waste volumes are not excessive as the county determines. Sec. 44-46(3) draws a hard line the bulky-item service does not cross: building materials and wooden pallets, from repairs, new construction or demolition, are excluded from county collection altogether and must be removed by the property owner or contractor, and no new certificate of compliance issues until that material is gone.

Collection of any refuse, including bulky items, runs on the schedule the director of environmental management sets under Sec. 44-48, with containers and materials set out only on the designated collection day for that address.