Last checked: September 9, 2026 — City of Durham Solid Waste and Durham County Waste & Recycling sources verified.
Durham Trash Pickup: The Short Answer
The City of Durham collects household garbage once a week in a green cart, recycling every other week in a blue cart, and yard waste every other week in the same week as your recycling — but yard waste only if you pay for the subscription. Bulky items are picked up by request only; nothing at the curb is automatic.
Your exact collection day and your recycling and yard waste week depend on your address. No guide can hand you a pickup day without your address, because Durham publishes no static day list and no zone map. Look it up in the city's Find Your Collection Day, Holiday Schedule, and Calendar tool or the free Durham Rollout app, or call Durham One Call at 919-560-1200.
Four rules decide whether your cart actually gets emptied: garbage and recycling go out by 5 a.m. on collection day or after 6 p.m. the night before; yard waste goes out by 6 a.m.; emptied carts must come off the curb within 24 hours or you may receive a citation; and city curbside service is a city-limits service. Unincorporated Durham County addresses get county recycling only and arrange garbage with a private hauler.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Garbage | Weekly, green cart, address-assigned day |
| Recycling | Every other week, blue cart (Blue Week / Red Week) |
| Yard waste | Every other week, same week as recycling — paid subscription required |
| Bulky items | By request only; up to 3 items free per weekly collection |
| Garbage / recycling set-out | By 5 a.m., or after 6 p.m. the night before |
| Yard waste set-out | By 6 a.m. on the scheduled day |
| Cart placement | 3 feet from objects, 3 feet apart, no more than 3 feet from the curb |
| Cart removal | Within 24 hours after pickup, or a citation is possible |
| Yard waste cost | $90 per year ($7.50 per month), published rate captured September 2026 |
| Contact | Durham One Call, 919-560-1200; 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham, NC 27701 |
| App | Durham Rollout (iOS and Android) |
| Drop-off | 2115 East Club Blvd, open to city and county residents |
| Outside city limits | Durham County biweekly recycling only (GFL contract); garbage from a private hauler |
| Holiday rule | Collections normally pushed back one business day on affected routes |
Who Collects Trash in Durham (Local Basics)
Durham's curbside program is a municipal service. The City of Durham Solid Waste department runs garbage, recycling, yard waste, and bulky collection for city-limits households that have city-issued carts, and most customers are served by automated trucks whose mechanical arm grabs and empties the cart. Recyclables go to the city transfer station on East Club Boulevard and are processed under contract by Sonoco Recycling in Raleigh.
That department is the single authority for schedules, cart rules, prep requirements, and fees — so when a neighbor, a landlord, or an older flyer says something different, check with the city:
- Durham One Call: 919-560-1200, or the Durham One Call online request form
- 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham, NC 27701
- Durham Rollout app, free for iOS and Android
The city promotes an address-based collection lookup as its primary tool rather than a printed calendar, because days and weeks are assigned per address.
Find Your Collection Day and Recycling Week (Address Lookup)
Work the official paths in this order:
1. The Find Your Collection Day, Holiday Schedule, and Calendar tool. It returns your assigned collection day, your recycling and yard waste week, and holiday-adjusted dates for your address. It is the authoritative source for a specific home and it adjusts automatically during holiday weeks.
2. The Durham Rollout app. The free app uses the same data and can send service alerts, the practical way to hear about weather or route changes before hauling carts out.
3. Durham One Call at 919-560-1200, or the online request form. Use these if you cannot use the online tool, are moving into a new address, or need an explanation the tool does not give.
What Durham does not publish: no citywide day list and no zone or color map assigning days by neighborhood or ZIP code. The address tool — not this article — is the only official source for your day and week, and it is the authoritative check during holiday weeks.
Verify by address before you do anything else. Enter your exact street address and read the calendar it returns: collection day, recycling week, yard waste week, and any holiday shift. Do not rely on a neighbor's day or a schedule posted in a community group.
What Gets Collected and How Often
| Service | Frequency | Container | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garbage | Weekly | Green cart | Bagged trash only, inside the cart |
| Recycling | Every other week | Blue cart | Loose, clean, unbagged; up to 4 blue carts free |
| Yard waste | Every other week | Brown cart | Subscription only; same week as recycling |
| Bulky items | By request | None | Up to 3 items free per weekly collection |
Garbage is collected weekly on your address-assigned day. Only bagged trash belongs inside the green cart; materials left loose or bagged on or beside the cart are not collected. The truck empties the cart, not the pile next to it.
Recycling is collected every other week in the blue cart, tracked as Blue Week and Red Week. Your yard waste pickup, if you subscribe, falls in the same week as your recycling. Accepted material is clean, dry paper and flattened cardboard, glass bottles and jugs, metal cans, and plastic bottles, tubs, and jugs — rinsed, loose, and unbagged. If you are not sure where something goes, the city's Waste Wizard searchable disposal database on the Your Collection Information page answers item by item.
Two warnings. The city reports roughly 40 percent recycling contamination, costing more than $300,000 a year, and a 1997 city ordinance makes it unlawful to put target recyclables — aluminum cans, corrugated cardboard, glass bottles and jars, newspaper, plastic bottles, steel cans — into the garbage, with penalties possible. If something describes Durham recycling as weekly, yard waste as free, or bulky pickup as automatic, it is out of date.
North Carolina law adds its own landfill bans covering items such as aluminum cans, appliances, computer equipment, televisions and electronics, lead-acid batteries, oil filters, plastic bottles, whole scrap tires, used oil, wood pallets, and yard waste — a further reason those materials do not belong in the garbage cart.
Step-by-Step: Prep and Set Out Your Carts
Garbage (green cart): bag everything; keep bagged trash inside the cart, nothing on the lid or beside it; set the closed cart at the curb after 6 p.m. the night before or by 5 a.m. on collection day.
Recycling (blue cart): set it out by 5 a.m.; keep items loose, never bagged; empty and rinse bottles, tubs, jugs, and cans; flatten cardboard so the lid closes. Nothing in the cart may exceed 2 feet in length or 40 pounds.
Yard waste (brown cart, subscribers): set the cart and up to 10 brown biodegradable paper bags at the curb by 6 a.m. on pickup day, or after 6 p.m. the prior evening. Roll it out with the bar facing the street. The lid should close; if it will not, contents may extend up to 2 feet above the cart, and the cart must stay under 175 pounds. No plastic bags and no personal containers.
The placement rule of 3s applies to every cart: at least 3 feet from objects such as mailboxes, hydrants, poles, trees, and parked cars; at least 3 feet apart from each other; no more than 3 feet from the curb; and never blocking a sidewalk or driveway.
Removal: emptied carts must be back off the curb within 24 hours of pickup. This is not a suggestion — the city says residents may receive a citation.
What Belongs in the Cart and What Gets It Tagged
A tagged cart is not collected until the problem is corrected. Knowing the prohibited list saves you a week.
Keep these out of garbage, recycling, and yard waste carts: car parts; carpet (route to bulky pickup); construction materials; dead animals (set at the curb and contact Durham One Call); glass window panes; loose ashes (cold and tightly bagged, green cart only); loose pet litter and pet waste; paints and pesticides (Household Hazardous Waste facility); targeted recyclables; tires; and yard waste or other organic matter, which belongs in the brown cart under a subscription.
Published tagging reasons include prohibited items, an overweight cart, hazardous materials, fluorescent bulbs, large amounts of liquid, a cart more than five feet from the curb, late set-out, and trash not in a city-issued cart.
Not accepted in curbside recycling: shredded paper (goes in the trash cart), wax-coated or greasy boxes including pizza boxes, plastic bags, hardback books, drinking glasses, mirrors, glass shelves, and contaminated paper. Fluorescent bulbs go to the Household Hazardous Waste facility.
If your cart is tagged, fix the issue, then call 919-560-1200 for collection or wait for the next regular day.
Yard Waste: The Optional Paid Subscription
Durham yard waste is not a free weekly service. It is an optional, fee-based subscription that shifted to every-other-week collection in August 2025, picked up in the same week as your address's biweekly recycling. Weeks are Blue Week or Red Week, and yours is address-specific.
Transition rules for existing customers: if your former yard waste day was Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, your pickup day stays the same and falls the day after your biweekly recycling. If it was Friday, your new day is Monday.
What the subscription includes: the brown cart; up to 10 brown biodegradable paper bags per pickup; and 2 free bulky brush pickups per year, scheduled by calling 919-560-1200. Brush must be under 4 inches in diameter, under 4 feet long, bundled neatly and parallel, up to about 4 cubic yards.
What it never includes: dirt, rocks, and construction debris are not collected as yard waste, and improperly prepared carts are tagged. Only one cart is serviced at the curb for exempt customers with multiple carts. Extra brown carts cost a monthly fee, and the brown cart is removed only if you request cancellation — which must be made by phone through Durham One Call, not the online form.
Bulky Items: Request Only, Never Curbside-By-Default
Setting bulky items out without a request is not a pickup; the truck will pass them.
One collection per week of up to 3 bulky items is free. Requests for more than 3 items at a time incur charges, and the city contacts the customer to discuss payment — no per-item rates are published. Schedule online at durhamnc.gov/855, in the Durham Rollout app, or by calling 919-560-1200, then place items at the curb by 5 a.m. on the scheduled day.
Placement rules: items must be at the curb and clear of all obstructions including cars, mailboxes, fences, and poles. The city cannot collect in alleys. Items are lifted mechanically with a boom truck, so nothing may sit under low wires or tree limbs, and nothing may cover water meters, fire hydrants, telephone boxes, underground sprinklers, or decorative stones.
What You Pay (Only What Is Published)
Amounts below are as captured in September 2026. Confirm before paying.
Yard waste subscription: $90 per year, or $7.50 per month, as published. The service year runs July 1 through June 30 and auto-renews each July 1 unless cancelled at least 10 business days ahead. There are no refunds for missed or weather-cancelled collections. City water customers are billed monthly; others receive a yearly statement in late June or early July.
Extra brown yard waste cart: $1.50 per month per cart. Recycling carts: up to four blue carts at no charge. Intentional cart damage: a $100 civil penalty plus the cost of the cart.
Extra garbage carts — official pages conflict. Cart Information states up to three additional green carts at $1.50 per month each, while the Solid Waste FAQ states a maximum of 2 garbage carts with the second leased at $18 per year. Both are official city statements and they disagree; confirm with Durham One Call rather than budgeting from either figure.
Self-haul fees at 2115 East Club Blvd, from the schedule effective July 1, 2025: municipal solid waste by passenger car $5 per vehicle, pickup trucks $10, $15, or $20 by volume; Yard Waste Facility $2 per passenger car; residential recyclables free; tires without North Carolina state certification $100 per ton plus a $6 mixed-tire surcharge per tire; the first 5-gallon bucket of compostable food waste free, then $1 per additional bucket; and a $20 unsecured-load penalty. Facilities accept credit or debit cards or verified disposal accounts — no cash. The full schedule lives in the city code.
2026 Holiday Delays: The Rule, Not a Date Table
The published rule is short: holidays normally push collections back one business day on the affected routes. Which routes shift depends on which weekday the holiday falls on, so the delay is not the same for every address in a given week.
That is why this guide prints no 2026 holiday date table. No single official city page publishes one, and a copied date list is exactly what strands carts at the curb. Read your adjusted date in the Find Your Collection Day tool or the Rollout app, both of which update automatically. Schedules are also subject to change for weather. For last-minute changes, the city points residents to local media, Durham One Call at 919-560-1200, and service alerts.
Missed Pickups, Tagged Carts, and Cart Repairs
Work the official sequence in order:
- Check the time. If your cart was not serviced by 4:30 p.m. on collection day, it may still be coming.
- Confirm it was the right day. Holidays normally push collections back one business day.
- Look for a driver tag. A tagged cart was deliberately skipped; the tag explains why.
- Out correctly and untagged? Report the miss through the Your Collection Information page or call 919-560-1200. Yard waste misses must be reported no later than the Monday after the miss, by 4:30 p.m.
- Tagged? Correct the problem first, then call for collection.
Carts and repairs: new construction and newly annexed properties request carts the same way. Replacement carts are provided when a cart is stolen or damaged beyond repair, and the first replacement is at no fee; carts with a collector tag should be left at the curb. Cart sizes are 65 gallons and 96 gallons for single-family homes, with reliable color coding: green for garbage, blue for recycling, brown for yard waste.
Drop-Off Facilities at 2115 East Club Blvd
The Waste Disposal and Recycling Center, Household Hazardous Waste Center, and Yard Waste Facility all sit at 2115 East Club Blvd, open to City of Durham and Durham County residents. Commercial users may use the waste and yard waste facilities but not the household hazardous waste facility.
Hours: Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 7:30 a.m. to noon. Customers must be inside the gate at least 15 minutes before closing, and hours are subject to change — check the collection page before driving out.
E-waste drops off free at the Waste Disposal and Recycling Center through an R2-qualified vendor, and residential recyclables are free at drop-off. The Yard Waste Facility accepts only vegetative waste — leaves, grass, tree and brush cuttings — plus unpainted, untreated wooden pallets; brown paper leaf bags are accepted and plastic bags must be de-bagged on site. Paints and pesticides belong at the Household Hazardous Waste facility, never in a cart.
One quirk: the city and county use different names for the same East Club Blvd complex, so readers comparing the two governments' pages are looking at one facility.
Durham City Limits vs. Durham County and Private Haulage
Everything above describes City of Durham curbside service, which reaches city-limits households that receive city carts. Verify your address before assuming coverage.
Apartment complexes and townhome communities are generally treated as multi-family properties and are not serviced by the city; residents should contact their property manager.
Outside the city limits, Durham County's Solid Waste Management Division serves unincorporated residents only and states it does not service addresses inside the City of Durham. County service differs in three ways:
- Biweekly curbside recycling (contracted with GFL): carts out by 6 a.m., items loose rather than bagged, one cart per address.
- No roadside garbage collection at all. Unincorporated residents arrange garbage directly with a private hauler. The county lists haulers — including GFL, Republic Services, My Valet Trash, Efland Trash Service, and Clayton and Hurdle — without endorsing any of them, and haulers set their own rates and schedules.
- Misses are reported to 919-560-0433 by 9 a.m. the following business day.
For your assigned week, the county publishes its own address schedule lookup on its Waste & Recycling page and offers the free Durham County Recycles! app for Apple and Google Play. Its hauler list notes that bulky items are handled by Efland Trash Service.
The county also operates three convenience sites requiring the blue solid waste decal and accepting residential waste only; city residents do not receive a decal because they are not assessed the county solid waste fee. Qualified residents who cannot use curbside service can apply for the city's Exempt (Non-curbside) Service path.
Verify Before You Act
Confirm three things before your next pickup: your collection day and recycling and yard waste week for your exact address; whether a holiday shift applies to the coming week; and any fee, subscription, or request step by phone with Durham One Call at 919-560-1200.
Concretely: open the lookup, enter your street address, read the calendar it returns, then save or print it. Turn on app or service alerts so weather and route changes reach you, and if you subscribe to yard waste, confirm the subscription is current.
This guide was checked against official city and county sources on September 9, 2026. Fee amounts and facility hours can change, and the city states that collection schedules are subject to change due to weather or other circumstances. Verify before you pay or drive anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
What day is trash picked up in Durham NC? Trash is collected once a week on an address-assigned day. Durham publishes no universal day list or zone map, so look up your day in the city's Find Your Collection Day tool, the free Durham Rollout app, or by calling Durham One Call at 919-560-1200.
What time do Durham carts need to be at the curb? Garbage and recycling by 5 a.m. on collection day, or after 6 p.m. the night before. Yard waste by 6 a.m. on its scheduled day. Emptied carts must be removed within 24 hours of pickup, or residents may receive a citation.
How often is recycling collected in Durham? Every other week in the blue cart. Weeks are tracked as Blue Week or Red Week, and your yard waste pickup, if you subscribe, falls in the same week as your recycling. Check the address tool or the Rollout app.
Is Durham yard waste pickup free? No. Yard waste is an optional subscription at $90 per year, or $7.50 per month, with the service year running July 1 through June 30 and automatic renewal each July 1. Subscribers get a brown cart, up to 10 brown paper bags per pickup, and 2 free bulky brush pickups per year.
How does Durham bulky item pickup work? Bulky collection is by request only. One collection per week of up to 3 items is free; requests for more than 3 items incur charges the city discusses with you. Schedule online at durhamnc.gov/855, in the Durham Rollout app, or by calling 919-560-1200.
What happens to Durham trash collection on holidays in 2026? The city says holidays normally push collections back one business day, and which routes shift depends on the holiday's weekday. Because no single official page publishes a 2026 holiday date table, check the Find Your Collection Day tool or the Rollout app.
Does the City of Durham pick up trash outside the city limits? No. City curbside service covers city-limits households. Durham County provides biweekly curbside recycling only to unincorporated county residents, contracted with GFL, and provides no garbage collection, so those residents contract with a private hauler such as GFL, Republic Services, or My Valet Trash.
My Durham trash was not collected. What do I do? If your cart was not serviced by 4:30 p.m. on collection day, first confirm it was the right day and check for a driver tag. If it was out correctly and untagged, report the miss through the Your Collection Information page or call 919-560-1200. Yard waste misses must be reported by the Monday after the miss at 4:30 p.m.
Sources
Official sources checked on September 9, 2026:
- City of Durham — Solid Waste (hub): https://www.durhamnc.gov/832/Solid-Waste
- City of Durham — Your Collection Information: https://www.durhamnc.gov/3025/Your-Collection-Information
- City of Durham — Find Your Collection Day, Holiday Schedule, and Calendar: https://durhamnc.gov/3025/Find-Collection-Day-Holiday-Schedule-Cal
- City of Durham — Curbside Collection Services: https://www.durhamnc.gov/852/Curbside-Collection-Services
- City of Durham — Garbage: https://www.durhamnc.gov/859/Garbage
- City of Durham — Recycling: https://www.durhamnc.gov/862/Recycling
- City of Durham — Yard Waste: https://www.durhamnc.gov/891/Yard-Waste
- City of Durham — Curbside Bulky Service: https://www.durhamnc.gov/855/Bulky-Services
- City of Durham — Cart Information: https://www.durhamnc.gov/851/Cart-Information
- City of Durham — Disposal and Drop-Off Facilities: https://www.durhamnc.gov/898/Disposal-and-Drop-Off-Facilities
- City of Durham — Solid Waste FAQ: https://durhamnc.gov/FAQ.aspx?QID=729
- City of Durham — Durham One Call Online Request: https://www.durhamnc.gov/2996/Durham-One-Call-Online-Request
- City of Durham — Exempt (Non-curbside) Service: https://www.durhamnc.gov/901/Exempt-Non-curbside-Service
- Durham County — Waste and Recycling: https://dconc.gov/General-Services/Waste-and-Recycling
- Durham County — Recycling Opportunities: https://dconc.gov/General-Services/Waste-and-Recycling/Recycling-Opportunities
- Durham County — Convenience Sites: https://dconc.gov/General-Services/Waste-and-Recycling/Durham-County-Convenience-Sites
- Durham City Code (Municode): https://library.municode.com/nc/durham/ordinances/code_of_ordinances
- Durham Rollout app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.durhamnc.recollect.waste (Android); https://apps.apple.com/us/app/durham-rollout/id1431854760 (iOS)
This guide summarizes official City of Durham and Durham County sources for reader use. Collection days, weeks, fees, and facility hours can change. Verify your exact address in the city's Find Your Collection Day tool or the Durham Rollout app, and confirm fees and service questions with Durham One Call at 919-560-1200 before acting.