Horry County, SC Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Horry County Code § 10-17(a)(16) states plainly that the county "encourages, but does not mandate" resident participation in recycling. That single sentence is the whole of the local recycling law for the unincorporated area, which includes Socastee, Carolina Forest, Garden City and Little River since none of those communities has its own city hall or waste department. Practically, this means the county's solid waste management collection system, run by the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (SWA), provides separate containers at its manned convenience centers for newspapers, green glass, brown glass, clear glass, aluminum and bi-metal beverage containers, PET and HDPE plastic beverage containers, used motor oil, lead-acid batteries, scrap metals and appliances, and yard waste.

Section 10-17(a)(15) further clarifies that placing waste in any collection container is never construed as a recycling requirement. A separate chapter, Sec. 5-20, repeats the voluntary framing for haulers licensed under the county's 2009 solid waste ordinance, noting the county "recognizes that many entities have in place their own recycling program" and merely encourages separation before collection. Because there is no mandate, there is no compliance deadline, no bin fee and no inspection of household trash for recyclables mixed in. What is enforced is the condition at the convenience centers themselves: unauthorized scavenging of the equipment is unlawful under Sec. 10-17(a)(10), and dumping outside the recycling and refuse containers falls under the county's general illegal-dumping rules.