Franklin County, NC Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Franklin County Code § 24-3 establishes that, from the effective date of the solid waste ordinance forward, the collection, transportation, and disposal of solid waste and recycled items anywhere in the county is governed by Chapter 24, applying whether the hauler is a private residential collector, a commercial route, or the county's own transfer station and convenience center operation. The specific mechanical requirements for pickup runs sit in § 24-118: any vehicle or container used to collect and transport garbage or refuse containing garbage must be covered, durable, and of sturdy construction, and must be cleaned as often as necessary to prevent a nuisance and kept in good repair.

The same section requires that loads of any solid waste be loaded and moved so nothing falls, leaks, or spills, and that loads be covered or securely tied down to stop material from blowing off during transport. If spillage does happen along a collection route, § 24-118 treats the spilled material as litter, a status that triggers the chapter's litter enforcement and penalty provisions, unless the solid waste collector or the waste's generator picks it up immediately, returns it to the vehicle or container, and properly cleans the area.

Because 'residential waste' under the chapter's definitions in § 24-4 means waste picked up from residents by private haulers rather than the county itself, these vehicle and container standards are the rule that actually reaches curbside pickup crews working in unincorporated Franklin County, even though the county does not run its own residential collection routes.