Knox County, TN Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Unincorporated Knox County has no municipal curbside pickup contract; disposal runs through the county's network of convenience centers under Article V of Chapter 26. Sec. 26-129 puts the county department of solid waste in charge of "promulgating rules and regulations for the operation of all county convenient centers," and requires those rules to be available for public inspection at each site, so posted hours, accepted materials and drop-off limits at a given center carry the force of law. Sec. 26-121 defines the material residents are dropping off: "garbage" is putrescible animal and vegetable waste from food handling and preparation, "refuse" is all putrescible and nonputrescible solid waste, and "rubbish" is nonputrescible solid waste, combustible or not.

Sec. 00, with each day the litter remains on the ground counting as a separate offense. Haulers get an extra rule under Sec. 26-126: any vehicle carrying trash or material likely to blow off must keep it enclosed or tarped, though noncommercial pickup trucks only need the load secured well enough that it will not blow off, and vehicles hauling recyclables to a convenience center or scrap dealer are exempt from the enclosure requirement. Money collected from littering fines tied to convenience-center violations, and to illegal dumping of any kind, feeds a dedicated clean-up fund under Sec. 26-131 that the county must use first to clear illegal dump sites before tapping general revenue.