Craven County, NC Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 32 defines 'dumpster' at Sec. 32-163 as 'stationary solid waste containers which require mechanical pickup by customized loading vehicles, including roll-off containers which involve the collection of construction debris,' distinguishing dumpster and roll-off service from the bag-and-cart franchise system that covers ordinary households and small hand commercial establishments. The same article's restrictions on disposal, Sec. ' The rule protects the business or property owner who contracts and pays for dumpster service from having outsiders dump their own trash into it without permission.

Under Sec. 32-51's franchise definitions, a 'hand commercial establishment' is any commercial entity generating less than three cubic yards of solid waste weekly and not receiving dumpster service; anyone above that volume, or any multifamily building, typically arranges its own dumpster or roll-off account outside the county's bag-and-sticker franchise system. Article IV also holds property owners, occupants, tenants and lessees jointly and severally responsible under Sec. 32-164(8) for unauthorized accumulations of litter or solid waste on their land, including around a dumpster pad. Enforcement runs through Sec.

32-167: the county can recover litter-abatement costs as a lien against the property, filed with the tax administrator and collected the same way as delinquent ad valorem taxes, and the violator remains liable for restitution of the abatement costs on top of the lien.