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

Sec. 7-3(f) of the Gaston County solid waste ordinance sets a hard two-week clock: no owner, occupant, tenant, or lessee of a building or dwelling may place or leave, or cause to be placed or left, bulky wastes outside the structure for longer than two weeks. The chapter's definitions section, Sec. 7-1, lists white goods such as refrigerators, water heaters, and washers and dryers as the kind of large household items the rule targets, and the neighboring Sec. 7-3(d) folds in the same concern for regulated refuse, including lumber, boxes, barrels, bottles, cans, tires, paper, cardboard, rags, old furniture, and appliances, requiring it be stored so it will not shelter rodents or vectors or create a fire hazard.

A related safety rule in Sec. 7-3(g) bars leaving an abandoned refrigerator or icebox with an airtight door accessible to children unless the door has been removed or is chained and locked. Useful materials such as firewood and building supplies are carved out of the bulky-waste restriction as long as they are stacked safely at a reasonable height, per Sec. 7-3(d). Chapter 7 dates to Res. No. 2003-353, adopted October 30, 2003, with its Sec. 7-3 enforcement provisions updated by Res. No. 2017-254 and Res. No. 2021-016.