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

Section 9-9(b) covers pine straw, leaves, grass, plant trimmings and shrubbery, requiring them to go in a container that meets the sanitation division's administrative operations manual, and setting a hard weight cap: once filled, a container not issued by the city for yard waste shall not weigh more than fifty pounds. The section also blocks common shortcuts, yard waste can't go in refrigerator boxes, plastic bags of any kind, or a container issued by the city for refuse or recycling, keeping those waste streams separated for disposal.

Preparation rules under § 9-9(c) require limbs, leaves and trimmings to be cut and placed per the operations manual, and flatly prohibit large stumps and logs from curbside yard waste collection. Collection itself runs once a week under § 9-9(e), the same weekly cadence as garbage and recycling, except during holidays or severe weather, and the section warns that piles exceeding the normal set-out limit become a special pickup or bulk waste, billed to the resident's utility account rather than collected free as routine yard waste.

Limitations in § 9-9(f) exclude dirt, rocks, bagged yard waste, land clearing debris and processed wood materials from yard waste pickup entirely, though processed wood can still go out with regular household garbage instead. Together these rules push heavier or non-organic debris toward the paid special pickup and dial-a-trailer programs rather than the free weekly yard waste route.