Charleston County, SC Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Sec. 10-24 sits in Article II of Chapter 10, which Sec. 10-17 limits to unincorporated Charleston County outside any area already served by a municipality or special public service district. The mandate is broad: every owner of residential or commercial property must either sign up with an approved licensed or governmental solid waste collection service or submit an individual disposal plan for county health department approval, and any private plan must conform to the intent of the county's solid waste rules. Sec. 10-18 defines the terms that give the mandate its reach: a 'collector' is anyone licensed by the county health department to collect or transport solid waste, and 'solid waste' sweeps in garbage, refuse, litter and rubbish from residential, commercial, agricultural or industrial sources that is not handled through an approved sewer system.

Sec. 10-23 carves out one narrow exemption: the health department may excuse large, bulky, essentially inert material disposal sites from the article's daily compaction and covering rules, but only if the material creates no insect, rodent or nuisance problem and does not otherwise violate state or local law. Anyone who wants relief from the mandate itself, rather than the compaction rule, must go further: Sec. 10-25 requires a written request to county council, which considers each variance individually rather than granting blanket exceptions. The rule works alongside the county's separate rummaging ban in Sec. 10-28, which makes it unlawful to scavenge from or scatter the contents of any curbside or drop-off solid waste container.