Greensboro, NC Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)
Key Facts
- Service
- Mandatory weekly collection
- Set schedule by
- Solid waste manager
- Curbside eligibility
- Single-family & qualifying attached units
- Monthly fee
- $5.50 per eligible unit (eff. 7/1/25)
- Set-out window
- Not before day preceding pickup
- Code section
- Sec. 25-11, 25-13(a), Code of Ordinances
Summary
Greensboro's solid waste manager sets citywide collection routes and schedules, and no owner or occupant may prohibit or prevent weekly solid waste collection at their premises. Curbside service runs once a week on a fixed day, with public notice required before any schedule change.
The solid waste manager shall establish collection routes and schedules and may alter these routes and schedules from time to time. The solid waste manager may establish and revise from time to time a policy relating to the number of times per week the city will collect solid wastes from various classifications of premises and the maximum number of solid waste containers that the city will service on any one (1) premises. No owner or occupant of any premises shall prohibit or prevent weekly solid waste collection services at the premises. Curbside collections scheduling. City-served curbside collection services will be provided once a week on a day designated for collection by the solid waste manager or his/her/their designee.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 132).
Full Breakdown
Section 25-11 of the Code of Ordinances puts the solid waste manager in charge of establishing and altering collection routes and schedules, including how many times per week the city collects from different classes of premises and the maximum number of containers it will service at one address. Critically, the section makes weekly service mandatory rather than optional: no owner or occupant of any premises shall prohibit or prevent weekly solid waste collection services at the premises. Section 25-13(a) implements that schedule for curbside customers specifically, city-served curbside collection is provided once a week on a day the solid waste manager designates, the same day is used for all services offered by the division (garbage, recycling, yard waste, bulk trash), and solid waste can't be set out before the day preceding the scheduled collection day.
Any change to the collection day requires public notice. Eligibility for curbside service under Section 25-13(a1) covers single-family residences and single business units, plus owners of attached units sharing only a common wall, their own driveway, adequate service yard, no more than 180 gallons of weekly garbage, and street access rated to bear city collection vehicles. 50 per eligible unit, effective July 1, 2025 under Section 25-21(a), funds curbside collection, processing and disposal of refuse, yard waste, bulk waste and recycling.
Violations & Fines
Blocking or preventing weekly collection service at a premises violates Section 25-11 directly. Chapter 25's general enforcement mechanism in Section 25-22 applies: written notice of the violation, fourteen days to remedy it, and a $75 civil penalty per violation if it isn't corrected, followed by a citation giving fifteen more days to pay before the city can pursue the penalty as a civil debt.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Greensboro
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Collection Schedule in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle collection schedule.