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

Section 38-117 grants Waste Industries, LLC, the exclusive franchise to collect solid waste and recyclables in unincorporated Granville County, outside any incorporated municipality and outside the incorporated part of the Camp Butner Reservation. Subsection (c)(1) spells out the residential recycling requirement: collection of residential municipal solid waste and recyclable materials happens when the recyclables are placed into collection containers the franchisee provides, and placing them there transfers ownership of the recyclables from the customer to the franchisee. Subsection (c)(2) extends the identical mechanism to commercial and industrial customers, but on an individual-agreement basis rather than automatically.

That ownership-transfer structure matters because it is what lets the franchisee route recyclables separately from ordinary municipal solid waste. The definitions in § 38-117(b) borrow from § 38-102, which defines recycling as the process by which solid waste or recovered materials are collected, separated or processed, and reused or returned to use as raw materials or products. The franchise agreement itself, entered into effective January 1, 2014, runs an initial five-year term with up to two one-year extensions, capped at seven years total under § 38-117(d), and sets the rates the franchisee can charge for the service, including the recycling container collection.

Section 38-117(g) puts enforcement of the franchise, including the recycling terms, with the county manager, the solid waste director or a designee, and the sheriff's department.