Alpharetta, GA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 38-3 of the Alpharetta Code of Ordinances lets the city contract with an independent hauler for solid waste collection, and it carves out roll-off service for commercial and industrial customers who need specialized trucks, compactors or heavy machinery to move their waste. Unlike standard residential garbage fees, which the city council sets by resolution, roll-off rates are negotiated directly between the contractor and the building owner or occupant, and the contractor bills that customer directly rather than through the city's utility billing. Section 38-3(b) covers items that need special handling because of size, weight, material or placement: the charge for that handling is worked out between the contractor and the generator or owner before the truck ever shows up.

Section 38-13(b) sets the placement rule itself: commercial and industrial containers must be kept on the premises at a place near the street that is readily accessible to collection vehicles, or wherever else the city or its contractor directs. Any commercial hauler operating in the city, not just the city's own contractor, needs a solid waste collection permit under section 38-35, which carries a $500.00 application fee, expires every December 31, and renews on a $500.00 renewal application filed by November 15; a permit that lapses unpaid draws a ten percent penalty plus 12 percent annual interest under section 38-36.

Violations of the chapter, including dumpster placement that blocks collection access, are punished under the general penalty in section 1-8, and section 38-41 treats each day of a continuing violation as a separate offense, so an improperly placed roll-off container can generate a new citation daily until it is corrected.