Gordon County, GA Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Article IV of Chapter 15 of the Gordon County Code, Yard Trimmings Disposal Regulations, keeps leaves, brush and grass out of the trash stream. Section 15-101 defines yard trimmings as leaves, brush, grass clippings, shrub and tree prunings, discarded Christmas trees, nursery and greenhouse vegetative residuals, and vegetative matter resulting from landscaping development and maintenance, other than mining, agricultural and silvicultural operations. Municipal solid waste is defined as solid waste derived from households, including garbage, trash and sanitary waste in septic tanks, and the definition expressly includes yard trimmings and commercial solid waste.

Section 15-102(a) makes it unlawful to place or mix yard trimmings with municipal solid waste within the unincorporated areas of the county, and within any municipality in the county that has not adopted an ordinance substantially similar to the article. Subsection (b) adds that yard trimmings shall not be disposed of at any municipal solid waste disposal facility having a liner and leachate collection system or requiring vertical expansion located within the county. Together the two subsections mean a bag of clippings cannot ride in with household garbage, and a lined landfill cannot take it.

Section 15-103 covers what happens when trimmings do reach a county facility. Yard trimmings transported to a county municipal solid waste disposal facility must be sorted from other waste and diverted to a chipping, grinding, or composting area designated to receive them, and the person transporting the trimmings is responsible for ensuring the diversion and separation. The code defines composting as the controlled biological decomposition of organic matter into a stable, odor-free humus.

Hauling rules sit nearby in Article II. Section 15-30(a) exempts an individual transporting domestic or household waste from his residence from hauler registration, while commercial haulers register with the county landfill for an annual fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or as the board of commissioners sets it annually. Section 15-27(b) names the Redbone Ridges Landfill in that registration rule.