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

Lee County Code § 22-3 defines yard trash as solid waste consisting solely of vegetative matter resulting from landscaping maintenance. Section 22-34 then lists 20 categories of waste the county's solid waste collection facilities, also called convenience centers, will not accept, and yard waste is item 14 on that list, sitting alongside animal feces, dead animals, sludges, barrels and wood pallets. Because the ban applies at the point of drop-off rather than on a resident's own property, the practical effect is that a Lee County resident cannot bring bagged leaves, grass clippings or landscaping debris to a county convenience center the way they would bring household garbage; the code leaves composting, private yard-waste haulers, or another approved outlet as the resident's options.

The list is enforced by the county's convenience center attendants under § 22-38, who may refuse to accept and unload any prohibited waste, and the director of general services retains authority under item 20 of § 22-34 to prohibit additional materials beyond the enumerated list. Because this is a facility-acceptance rule rather than a property-maintenance ordinance, it does not by itself require residents to remove yard debris from their land on any schedule; it only forecloses the convenience-center drop-off route for that category of waste.