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

Franklin County Code § 24-4 defines each recyclable category narrowly rather than leaving it to guesswork. Recyclable glass means glass bottles or jars in any color, but the definition specifically excludes window pane glass and auto glass. Recyclable plastic bottles and jugs cover all plastic soda or milk containers, but the code excludes bowls, trays, covers, and bags, and separately excludes motor oil or antifreeze containers even though they're plastic. These category definitions matter because § 24-91(b) tells residents exactly where each item goes: the county's staffed convenience centers keep separate containers for aluminum cans and pans, antifreeze (at sites 4, 6, 7, 9, and 12), corrugated cardboard, glass bottles and jars, lead-acid batteries, magazines, motor oil and motor oil filters (also sites 4, 6, 7, 9, and 12), newspapers, plastic bottles and jugs, and textiles such as clothing and shoes.

Nonresidential producers, meaning businesses, industries, and institutions, get a narrower recycling list under § 24-89(c): office waste, recyclable cardboard, newspaper, magazines, glass bottles, plastic bottles or milk jugs, and aluminum containers only, with all other manufactured, processed, or bulky waste from a business required to go to the transfer station instead. Materials that don't fit these definitions, like window glass or a motor-oil jug, have to be handled through a different disposal path entirely rather than the recycling containers.