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

Article C of Chapter 8-1, sections 8-1-41 through 8-1-44, governs the county's recycling container program in unincorporated Greenwood County. Section 8-1-43 declares that all containers distributed to residents for use in collecting recyclable materials are the property of the county, establishing county ownership as the foundation for every other rule in the article. Section 8-1-41 sets the penalty for any Article C violation at a flat $200.00 fine on conviction in magistrate's court, and specifies that no part of the fine may be suspended unless the court finds the violator has made adequate restitution to the county for any damage the violation caused to a recycling container.

Section 8-1-42 lets any law enforcement officer bring an Article C charge on a uniform traffic ticket authorized by S.C. Code § 56-7-10, streamlining enforcement compared with a full criminal summons. Because the containers remain county property, residents do not own the bins delivered to their curb, and the article's companion prohibited-acts section, 8-1-44, separately bars selling, misusing, damaging or hoarding them. The $200.00 penalty in section 8-1-41 is higher than the $100.00 minimum fine set for general Article A solid-waste violations under section 8-1-3(b), reflecting the added cost of replacing damaged county-owned recycling equipment. Restitution ordered under section 8-1-41 is paid to the county rather than any private party.