Dorchester County, SC Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)

Sec. 34-131 defines yard waste narrowly as grass, leaves and brush, meaning small branches and twigs, generated from general yard maintenance; construction and demolition debris is a separate defined category under the same section. Sec. 34-132 governs how residents may bring that waste to a convenience site. Sites are open only to Dorchester County residents disposing of household-generated waste, and proof of residency may be required at the gate. Only yard waste or C&D generated from a resident's own personal do-it-yourself project is accepted; the ordinance flatly excludes anything hauled by a contractor or commercial business, and it separately bars any vehicle or trailer displaying contractor or commercial signage even if the driver is a county resident.

The size of the load is capped too: vehicles larger than a one-ton pickup, or trailers larger than a single axle, are prohibited outright, and no combination of a pickup pulling a trailer may be used to bring in a load. Scavenging through material other residents have dropped off is not allowed, and Sec. 34-132(i) requires everyone using a site to follow the attendant's directions and bars disruptive or abusive conduct, verbal or otherwise, toward attendants or other users. Unauthorized waste, including loads hauled in from outside the county, is treated the same as illegal dumping and enforced under the litter article's Sec.

34-110(e). The convenience-site article was adopted by Ord. No. 16-11 on November 7, 2016, and amended by Ord. No. 19-19 on July 15, 2019, which added the illegal-dumping cross reference and the site-conduct rule.