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

Sec. 21-403 of the Code of Chatham County, "Responsibility of Property Owner/Occupant for Preparation, Separation, Storage and Placement of Waste for Curbside Collection," sets the minimum removal frequency for household trash. " The same subsection closes the obvious loophole: "If the resident cannot legally dispose of the removed trash, then trash removal service is required. " In practice that means residents who do not haul their own trash to a permitted disposal site must be signed up with a licensed private hauler or the county's collection program.

Subsection 1 of the same section additionally requires that trash awaiting pickup be properly prepared: it must be containerized or bagged, kept off the vehicular right-of-way, and not left at curbside more than 72 hours ahead of a scheduled collection under Sec. 21-403(1)(f). This section sits in Article IV of Chapter 21, the county's Integrated Solid Waste Management Practices and Procedures, which is enforced by the County Public Works Director and the sanitation enforcement officers named in Sec. 21-307.