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

Section 26-20(a) makes it unlawful for a commercial establishment to keep a solid waste container that does not comply with the section, requiring each business to store refuse in receptacles or containers so as to eliminate wind driven debris and unsightly litter, using approved methods such as refuse receptacles, bulk containers or detachable containers, and to clean up spillage and overflows immediately when they occur. Section 26-20(b) requires all loading and unloading areas to have refuse containers for loose debris, paper, packaging materials and other business trash, with as many containers as necessary to keep the area clean, neat and sanitary.

Section 26-20(c) sets a stricter, always-on standard for drive-in restaurants and other carry-out food establishments, which must maintain sufficient receptacles for business trash, garbage and refuse at all times because of the higher volume of packaging waste those businesses generate. The rule sits alongside the general accumulation ban in § 26-16(a), which makes any unauthorized pile of solid waste on commercial property a public nuisance, and the Pender County Solid Waste Department enforces both provisions.