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

Lee County Code § 22-16 requires garbage to be stored in a container that is durable, rust resistant, nonabsorbent, watertight and easily cleaned, fitted with a close cover and enough handles or bails to move it, with enough containers on hand to hold a full week's accumulation and each kept clean enough to avoid odor or nuisance conditions. At the county's convenience centers, § 22-38 requires an attendant to be on site whenever a facility is open, and that attendant may refuse to accept or unload any waste that fails to meet chapter rules or the department's own procedures; nothing may be unloaded or placed in a container at the site unless an attendant is present and has accepted it, and no containers may be left outside a facility after hours.

Section 22-39 adds that the receptacles the county provides at its facilities must be used only in line with the chapter, and § 22-40, read alongside them, bars removing items from a receptacle or climbing on or damaging one without the director of general services' express permission. Together these sections function as Lee County's pickup rules in place of a curbside program: proper storage on the property, then a supervised, attendant-controlled drop-off at the collection facility.