Cleveland County, NC Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

The Solid Waste Division maintains centers at numerous sites across unincorporated Cleveland County so residents have somewhere close to home to drop off garbage and recyclables, per § 11-40(a). Every load has to go inside the container marked for it; leaving bags or bulk items on the ground next to a container violates § 11-40(b) even if the center is otherwise open. Section 11-40(c) bans scavenging: no one may remove items from a center, climb into a container, or set or attempt to set a fire inside one.

Because these sites exist for county residents, § 11-40(d) shuts commercial, industrial, and institutional haulers out entirely; only residential loads are accepted. A parallel list in § 11-40(e) bars hazardous, liquid, infectious, and radioactive waste, dead animals, construction and demolition debris, and long lengths of cable or wire from every center, on top of the container rules. The solid waste director administers the article and can refer repeat violators for prosecution. Cleveland County keeps a separate sanitary landfill under § 11-39 with its own hours and accepted-waste list, so items rejected at a recycling center, like tires or asbestos, may still be taken to the landfill with prior written approval from landfill staff.