Burlington, NC Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 33-3 of the Burlington City Code, in Chapter 33 (Solid Waste), states that "the Alamance County Recycling Ordinance, adopted by reference on October 15, 1991, is ratified as being applicable within the corporate limits of the City of Burlington." Rather than writing a separate municipal recycling ordinance, the city adopted the county's program wholesale and assigned local enforcement to the director of public works or a designee, acting under the authority Section 33-21 gives that office over solid waste collection generally, but only "to the extent said enforcement shall not be inconsistent with County Code Section V (penalties)." In practice, that means Burlington residents and businesses are bound by whatever recycling participation and material rules the Alamance County ordinance sets, while the city's own automated container program under Section 33-31 supplies the physical bins: the city provides one 100-gallon container for recyclables to each household alongside the garbage container, with a 65-gallon option available for multi-family or hard-to-service situations.

Because the substantive recycling rules live in the county's ordinance rather than a separately printed Burlington chapter, any dispute over what materials qualify or how the program is administered defers to the county code's own text, with the city's public works director carrying out day-to-day enforcement inside city limits.