Rockdale County, GA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Sec. 226-3 of the Unified Development Ordinance sets three requirements for dumpster placement at commercial and multi-family developments in unincorporated Rockdale County. First, location: dumpsters must be enclosed within a building and out of sight from public streets, or located outside to the rear of the principal building, so a dumpster cannot simply sit in a front parking lot or beside a public road. Second, the pad: every dumpster must sit on a concrete pad sized and built strong enough to support the weight of service vehicles, and restaurants and other food-service establishments have an added requirement, their pads must be designed to slope into a drain equipped with a grease trap, addressing the grease and wastewater that collects around food-service dumpsters specifically.

Third, screening: any dumpster not located in the rear yard must be surrounded by an opaque enclosure at least six feet tall, and it must also be screened by perimeter planting as required under Sec. 328-7, the UDO's buffer and landscaping standards. Together the three rules mean a business cannot simply drop a dumpster on bare ground next to a loading dock; it needs a proper concrete base, and unless it is tucked behind the building and out of view, an enclosure and landscaping to screen it from neighboring properties and the street.

These standards sit inside Chapter 226, the same chapter that governs off-street loading and unloading space, so dumpster placement is reviewed alongside a development's loading area during site plan review by the Department of Planning and Development.