Solid Waste Services

Residential Solid Waste ServicesHousehold Garbage Collection - Copy

Residential household garbage (green) roll-out carts are collected once a week on each neighborhood's collection day.  The recycling (blue) cart and yard waste alternates every other week (bi-weekly) on each neighborhood's collection day.  A bi-weekly calendar can be found at on the Solid Waste Division Page.  City of Washington employees and equipment pick up garbage, recycling, and yard waste.

Please place garbage, yard waste and recyclables next to the street by 7 a.m. on your neighborhood's collection day. Please remove carts and yard waste containers from street side as soon as possible after collection.

Garbage

Place garbage inside your green 90-gallon cart.  The City will not service other types of containers full of household garbage.  No garbage bags or household trash outside of the cart will be picked up.

Any resident which requires services for more than one residential roll-out cart will be charged an additional fee of $10 per city-issued cart.  Call (252) 975-9302 to request additional carts.

Do not place yard waste or building materials in your garbage cart.

To reduce odor, rinse your cart periodically and seal messy items securely in plastic bags.

APARTMENT RESIDENTS: Dispose of garbage in the dumpster on your property or in the garbage chute at your building.

Recyclables

Place recyclables inside your recycling bin for collection.  

APARTMENT RESIDENTS: Recyclables are collected from the centrally located recycling carts at the apartment complex.

The following materials may be recycled:

  • Newspapers (without fliers or inserts), white and color office paper, notebook paper, and envelopes.  No shredded paper.
  • Aluminum and metal cans. Food and beverage containers only. Rinse. No need to remove labels. Crush to save space. No scrap metal, paint cans, aerosol cans, motor oil or antifreeze cans, aluminum foil, plates or pie tins.
  • Plastic containers — PETE #1 and HDPE #2. Items such as soft drink bottles, milk jugs, detergent, bleach and fabric softener bottles, and cooking oil bottles.   Only recycle if the #1 and #2 is on the bottom or side of the plastic container.  If you cannot find a # on the item, please discard in the household trash.   No plastic wrap, plastic bags or motor oil and antifreeze bottles.
  • weekly collections - CopyCorrugated Cardboard ONLY — Only cardboard boxes are allowed.  Please flatten and remove any plastic and/or metal from the boxes.  No other food boxes like cereal or pizza will be accepted.
The recycling cart will not be serviced if non-recyclable materials are seen in your cart.  

Yard Waste
Put yard waste in bags or containers and place next to the street between the curb and sidewalk.

Cut brush and tree trimmings in 3-foot (or shorter) lengths and 6-inches in diameter (or smaller); weight should be less than 80 pounds. Place next to the street between the curb and sidewalk. Do not place in the street or along the curb and gutter.

Tree limbs/branches that exceed above criteria can be picked up on a call per need basis for a charge. 
Call (252) 975-9302 for more information.

From November 1 to February 15, rake loose leaves next to the street between the curb and sidewalk. Do not place loose leaves in the street or along the curb and gutter.  

Bulky Items (furniture, appliances*, etc.)

Bulky items (anything too large to place in a garbage cart) will be picked up at no charge once a quarter on the second full weeks of February, May, August and November.

*NOTE: The City does not pick up items that contain, or did contain, Freon, such as freezers, refrigerators, air conditioners, tires, hazardous materials, TV's, computers, and accessories.

Place bulky items next to the street for collection on the regular solid waste pick-up day.

At other times, the City will haul away bulky items for a charge of $100 per trip. Call (252) 975-9302 to arrange for service.

Residents also may dispose of bulky items at no charge at a Beaufort County Solid Waste Collection Sites.  For a list of locations, acceptable materials, and hours of operations visit the Beaufort County Website.


Fees

The City of Washington charges residents a monthly fee for solid waste services to help cover the cost of collecting, hauling away and disposing of solid waste. This fee appears on your utility bill.

Beaufort County charges an annual solid waste fee to each property owner to cover landfill costs. This fee appears on the annual property tax bill.  

Holiday Schedule

The City will collect garbage and recyclables only on the following city-observed holidays (or an alternative day) when they fall on a day other than Monday:

  • New Year's Day
  • Good Friday
  • Independence Day
  • Veterans Day
  • Friday after Thanksgiving
  • Christmas Eve
No garbage, recycling or yard waste collections on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Holiday schedules are announced on the City Cable Access Channel (Washington Cable Channel 9), City of Washington Facebook and on this website under Public Works Solid Waste Division Solid Waste Schedule. 

Storm Debris Collection

To help residents clean up after natural disasters, such as hurricanes and major floods, the City of Washington may temporarily suspend restrictions about collection of yard waste and bulky trash.  Schedule changes will be announced on the City Cable Access Channel (Washington Cable Channel 9), City of Washington Facebook and through the local news media.  Dispose of debris from other storms according to the regular yard waste schedule.

Inclement Weather

If garbage or recycling collections are canceled due to inclement weather, make-up schedules will be announced on the City Cable Access Channel (Washington Cable Channel 9), City of Washington Facebook and through the local news media.