Buncombe County, NC Trash & Recycling: Yard Waste Collection (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Buncombe County Code § 62-32
- Banned at landfill
- Yard waste, white goods, oil, batteries, antifreeze, cans
- Civil penalty
- $50.00 initial (§ 62-33)
- Penalty accrual
- Separate penalty for each additional day
- White goods defined
- § 62-26: rusted/jagged appliances, iceboxes, refrigerators
- Curbside yard-waste program
- None established in this article
- Enforcing agency
- Director of Solid Waste
Summary
Buncombe County's landfill will not take yard waste. Sec. 62-32 lists yard waste alongside white goods, used oil, lead-acid batteries, antifreeze, and aluminum cans as materials that must be separated out before a load reaches the landfill, and Sec. 62-33 backs the ban with a $50.00 civil penalty that accrues for every day the violation continues.
Sec. 62-32. - Prohibited dumping. No yard waste, white goods, used oils, lead acid batteries, antifreeze or aluminum cans shall be disposed of at the county landfill. Those items, and any other items banned from North Carolina landfills in the future, shall be separated from the solid waste and disposed of in a manner consistent with all federal, state, and local regulations. ... Sec. 62-33. - Penalties. (a) A violation of this division shall subject the violator to imposition of a civil penalty... Each day that the violation continues is a separate and distinct violation subject to an additional civil penalty. Unless specified in the fee schedule, the initial civil penalty for a violation of this division shall be $50.00.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 37).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 62-32 of the Buncombe County Code draws a hard line at the landfill gate: yard waste, white goods, used oils, lead acid batteries, antifreeze, and aluminum cans cannot be disposed of there, and the ban automatically picks up any other material North Carolina bans from landfills in the future. The code requires those materials to be separated from the rest of a load and disposed of through channels that meet federal, state, and local rules instead, meaning haulers and residents have to route yard debris to composting, mulching or another approved outlet rather than the county landfill.
Buncombe County Code Sec. C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources flags as a health or safety hazard, the same standard used to turn those items away at the landfill gate alongside yard waste. This article does not set up a county curbside yard-waste collection program; residents either self-haul debris to an authorized recycling or composting site or contract with one of the franchised solid waste collectors licensed under Division 2 of Chapter 62, subject to the same storage and transport rules in Sec. 62-30 that govern ordinary household refuse. Sec. 62-33 supplies the general civil penalty for any Division 1 violation, including a Sec. 62-32 load turned up at the landfill scale house.
Violations & Fines
A violation of Sec. 62-32, like any other Division 1 offense in Chapter 62, subjects the violator to a civil penalty under Sec. 62-33. Unless the county's annually adopted fee schedule sets a different amount, the initial penalty is $50.00, and each additional day the violation continues counts as a separate, additional civil penalty rather than a one-time fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take yard waste to the Buncombe County landfill?
Does Buncombe County pick up yard waste at the curb?
What is the fine for bringing yard waste to the landfill?
What counts as 'white goods' under the landfill ban?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Buncombe County
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