Charlotte, NC Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Section 10-32(a) of the Charlotte City Code sets the secondary collection service for yard waste, and the Solid Waste Services (SWS) department runs it. Section 10-1 defines yard waste as solid waste consisting solely of vegetative matter resulting from landscaping maintenance, with grass, weeds, leaves, tree trimmings, plants and shrubbery prunings as examples. Section 10-34(e) adds that natural Christmas trees are collected as yard waste under this same section, while artificial trees follow the bulky waste rules of section 10-33.

Timing is fixed. Items go to the curbside no earlier than the day before collection and no later than 6:00 a.m. on collection day. Any personal waste container or bag has to be removed by 11:59 p.m. the same day. Section 10-115 turns each of those deadlines into an enforceable rule: setting yard waste out more than one day early, or leaving containers and bags at the curb after 11:59 p.m. on collection day, each carries a $150.00 civil penalty.

Eligibility is written in two tiers. Service is provided to detached single-family dwellings and accessory dwelling units. Charlotte can also extend it to a small waste container-eligible development, defined in section 10-1 as 29 or fewer residential units in a development approved before January 1, 2018, or 11 or fewer units in a development approved after that date, provided the development uses small waste containers for its primary service under section 10-30(a).

Preparation rules are specific. Yard waste goes in personal waste containers or bags as required by the SWS department head, who is the director of solid waste services. A bag holding yard waste cannot be secured or tied. Under section 10-115(c), failing to properly prepare or containerize waste for curbside collection is a separate $150.00 violation.

Placement matters as much as timing. Yard waste must sit at ground level, within six feet of the curbside, and at least three feet away from other piles and from obstacles such as mailboxes, telephone poles, automobiles, bulky waste and trees, unless the SWS department head specifies another location. Section 10-32(a)(5) also asks residents to use reasonable care so that a pile does not interfere with or deny use of a sidewalk.