Durham, NC Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

Section 58-99 covers everything routine collection can't: large tree and shrub trimmings, bulky or excessive amounts of refuse, leaves and yard rakings. The city labels this category "extra refuse," and it only moves at the property owner's request, the Department of Solid Waste hauls it under regulations set by the director as soon as conveniently possible, but the section is explicit that this special hauling cannot interfere with the normal collection schedule for regular refuse and garbage, so it typically runs as a lower-priority add-on rather than a guaranteed same-week service. Unlike routine pickup, extra refuse hauling isn't free: the owner pays a fee set to cover the department's actual cost of the job.

The section also sets a handling standard so crews aren't left wrestling oversized wood: tree stumps, trunks and limbs have to be cut down to sizes two adult workers can readily load, and piled in an easily accessible location rather than left scattered across the yard. Section 58-99 explicitly does not reach one category, material covered by Section 58-154, which addresses refuse from building operations and landscape work by contractors, so a homeowner clearing their own yard uses 58-99 while a landscaping contractor's debris is governed separately. Because extra refuse is a paid, requested service rather than a collection right, there's no set-out deadline to police; the enforcement backbone for the rest of Chapter 58, civil remedial fees under Section 58-8 for actual code violations, applies if oversized material is dumped for routine pickup instead of requested as extra refuse.