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

Section 62-27 of the Wayne County solid waste article sets the storage rules behind residential garbage collection in the unincorporated county. Subsection (c) requires garbage to be stored only in a container that is durable, rust resistant, nonabsorbent, watertight and easily cleaned, fitted with a close-fitting flytight cover and adequate handles or bails for handling. Waste may also go in other adequate, suitable receptacles during the seven-day storage period, but if those containers lack a flytight cover, the garbage inside must be wrapped, bagged or otherwise enclosed in paper or plastic.

Every container, of either type, must be kept clean enough that no odor or other nuisance condition develops. Subsection (d) adds that solid waste must be stored so it does not harbor rodents or vermin and does not create a fire hazard, and subsection (a) makes it unlawful for any owner, occupant, tenant or lessee to let solid waste accumulate on the property in any manner not prescribed by the article. These storage duties sit alongside the weekly removal requirement in subsection (b) and are enforced the same way as the rest of chapter 62: a violation can draw a criminal misdemeanor charge under section 62-167(a) or a civil citation from a solid waste department employee.