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

Section 33-31(1) of the Burlington City Code splits the two waste streams on different clocks: "City-served curbside collection services will be provided once a week on a day designated for collection by the sanitation superintendent," while "recyclables will be collected every two (2) weeks on a day designated by the city's authorized collector." Section 33-31(2) then locks the container to a city-issued automated cart: "All households and single business units shall use only city approved containers for all solid waste removal by the city," and under the automated system the city supplies "one (1) 100-gallon container for wet and dry garbage and one (1) for recyclables," with a 65-gallon option where a 100-gallon cart is impractical for multi-family or special situations.

The city retains ownership of the carts; a resident who damages or loses one through misuse pays a replacement fee off the solid waste fee schedule, while normal wear-and-tear replacement or a stolen cart through no fault of the resident is replaced free. Businesses generating more than 200 gallons of garbage a week must arrange a private-hauler stationary container instead of curbside carts. The same placement and time-window rules that apply to garbage carts under Section 33-31(3)-(4), placing containers no more than 24 hours before pickup and removing them from the street by evening, apply equally to the recycling cart since both are collected under the same automated container program.