Craven County, NC Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Chapter 32, Article III of the Craven County Code sets up the franchise system that runs curbside recycling in the unincorporated county. Section 32-102 lets the Board of Commissioners grant two kinds of exclusive rights in a franchise area: a recycling franchise, which collects recyclable solid waste materials from residences and hand commercial establishments, and a separate solid waste franchise for everything else. Section 32-27 defines what counts as recyclable solid waste material for the program: newspaper with inserts, aluminum cans and foil products, PETE and HDPE (#1 and #2) plastic containers in natural or pigmented colors, clear, green and brown glass containers, corrugated cardboard, and steel food, aerosol and paint cans.

Recycling containers used for the program are supplied by the county or by the franchisee the county has designated under § 32-27's definition of recycling container. A franchisee's application under § 32-104 must specify which type of franchise it seeks and the franchise area it proposes to serve, and the franchise itself runs under a written agreement the director keeps on file. Curbside collection of the recyclable material the franchise picks up happens on the same weekly schedule as trash collection under § 32-127, and materials set out curbside become county property under § 32-32 the moment they are placed there.

The Coastal Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, referenced throughout Article III as CRSWMA, operates the regional landfill the franchisees haul waste to, though recyclables collected under the recycling franchise are processed separately from that landfill stream.