Clayton County, GA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Sec. ' Beyond that floor, Sec. 78-9 governs how customers must present their waste. Containers used for collection must sit to the rear of the building line at all times except on the scheduled pickup day, when they may come to the curb, but they must remain sealed or enclosed the rest of the week. Trash containers are barred from enclosed carports, must be made of metal, plastic, or other waterproof material with a tight-fitting lid to keep out rain and insects, and must sit within 150 feet of the curb or paving of a public street.

Households that need service further out can arrange a special contract with their hauler for greater distance. Yard trash gets its own placement rule: it must be set to the rear of the curbline or off the street right-of-way rather than piled in the road. All service is tied to licensing: Sec. 78-8 requires anyone collecting and disposing of solid waste for a fee to hold a county license, and Sec. 78-3 lets the county evaluate an applicant's ability to serve an area before granting one.

The customer-side rules in Sec. 78-9 are not optional extras: subsection (6) ties compliance directly to whether a resident keeps getting picked up at all, and separately makes it unlawful to let waste pile up to the point that it becomes a health hazard, an eyesore, or a nuisance from odor.