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

Guilford County does not collect residential garbage itself in the unincorporated area; collection is handled entirely by private haulers licensed under County Code Sec. 5-6. No one may operate as a solid waste collector without a license from the Board of Commissioners, and license applications (name, equipment list with VINs, proof of liability insurance, disposal-site locations, and collection experience) are due to the Environmental Services Program Manager by September 1 of the year the license expires. A license runs three calendar years, cannot be transferred without the Program Manager's approval, and a licensee who wants out must give the Board 120 days' written notice before abandoning it.

Trucks and containers must be covered, leak-proof, durable and easily cleaned, must display the company name and phone number, and must be loaded so contents cannot fall, leak, spill or scatter; any spillage has to be cleaned up by the hauler. The county enforces customer service through a Customer Bill of Rights attached to every license: if a hauler skips a customer's regular pickup day through no fault of the customer, it must pick up as soon as possible and no later than the next regularly scheduled collection day, and if it misses a pickup for more than 24 hours after being notified, it owes the customer a pro-rata billing credit.

Haulers must also submit an annual report to the Program Manager by August 1 covering customer counts and tonnage collected. Inspections of equipment can happen at any time without notice, and conditions found noncompliant trigger a written notice with 10 days to correct before license suspension or revocation.