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

Under Johnston County Code § 20-34, yard waste means solid waste consisting solely of vegetative matter resulting from landscaping maintenance, a category the county treats separately from ordinary household garbage. Section 20-37(13) forbids any person, solid waste collector, or company from dumping or depositing yard waste, white goods, large volumes of aluminum cans, used oil, whole tires, or lead-acid batteries into a county-owned sanitary landfill except as authorized by state and county regulations. Anyone caught doing so must remove the waste immediately once a county representative asks; if they fail to, the county removes and disposes of it and bills the violator for every cost of removing, transporting, and properly disposing of the material.

Yard waste also carries its own transport rule: § 20-40 requires anyone hauling yard waste to keep it in an enclosed vehicle or container, or otherwise covered with a metal or fabric cover, though loads made up solely of limbs may travel uncovered if they are securely tied to the vehicle or trailer. A driver who violates the covering requirement can be cited under § 20-35 and is guilty of a misdemeanor. Residents in unincorporated Johnston County dispose of yard waste through the county's convenience and recycling sites described in § 20-39 rather than a dedicated brush truck, since the towns run their own collection inside their limits.