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

Sec. 7-2005(a)(1) of the Raleigh City Code sets the baseline preparation rule for every household and business receiving City collection: garbage must be placed inside a refuse container and stay inside it at all times. All garbage has to be bagged before it goes in the container, loose garbage that can't be bagged is not allowed in the container at all. Yard waste, recycling, or any other item that doesn't belong in the garbage stream may not be mixed into a garbage container. Solid Waste Services will not pick up garbage that's been set outside a container without an approved Special Collection request, and it will not collect garbage that isn't properly prepared under these rules.

Container lids must be closed, though the code gives a small tolerance: a cart lid open twelve inches or less still counts as closed for purposes of this Part. These preparation standards apply citywide to anyone who owns, occupies, rents, or otherwise controls a premises, including vacant property, and sit alongside the separate preparation rules for recycling (Sec. 7-2005(a)(2)) and yard waste (Sec. 7-2005(a)(3)). Improperly prepared refuse simply gets skipped on collection day rather than picked up, and repeated noncompliance escalates into the administrative-fee track under Sec. 2.