It’s illegal to trash plastic bottles in NC. But what if I can’t recycle?
Recycling is a great way to help the environment, but some North Carolina residents don’t have a way to dispose of their bottles and cans.
When we published a story this spring telling residents which items they have to recycle instead of throwing in the trash, a few readers reached out to tell us they don’t have access to recycling services where they live.
A reader who lives in Southern Pines emailed the Observer saying her apartment complex recently stopped offering recycling services.
“When I first moved here six months ago, there were some small containers for recyclables, but since then they have been taken away,” she said. “How do I recycle things?”
Another reader who lives in Mooresville said his apartment never offered it.
“The apartment complex I live in does not offer any recycling,” he said. “Who can enforce such a thing? I thought everyone had to offer recycling.”
According to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), one in five North Carolinians live in multifamily residential units and many do not have access to recycling.
If you’re struggling to find ways to recycle in North Carolina, here’s what you can do.
Are NC apartments required to recycling?
There is no state law that requires apartment complexes to offer recycling services, but some municipalities have laws that mandate it.
For example, Fayetteville requires all multi-family complexes of more than seven units on a single parcel to provide recycling for residents, according to an ordinance approved by the City Council in 2011.
In 2016, city of Raleigh leaders decided not to require apartment recycling. In 2020, a Charlotte resident began a petition urging the city of Charlotte to require apartment recycling, which has not happened.
Still, North Carolina is among dozens of states that have mandatory recycling requirements, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. Plastic bottles, aluminum cans and wooden pallets are among the items banned from landfills in the state.
“Most of the landfill bans are governed by NC General Statute 130A-309.10, which acknowledges that the occasional disposal of small amounts of prohibited materials is likely to occur and is not deemed a violation,” Katherine Lucas, a spokesperson for NCDEQ, previously told The Charlotte Observer over email.
Businesses found to be intentionally circumventing the statute could be fined up to $15,000 per day per violation, Lucas said.
NCDEQ did not respond to multiple emails asking how North Carolina residents who do not have access to waste collection services can recycle.
Recycling in Charlotte and the Triangle
If you live in Charlotte or the Triangle, you can visit your county’s solid waste page to see where to recycle your items:
Mecklenburg County: wipeoutwaste.mecknc.gov
Wake County: wake.gov/departments-government
Durham County: durhamnc.gov/862/Recycling
Orange County: orangecountync.gov/1949/Recycling-Collection
Chatham County: chathamcountync.gov/government
Johnston County: johnstonnc.gov/solidwaste
Recycling center near me
You can use Earth911’s Recycling Center Search tool to find a recycling center near your home.
Just enter your zip code to search through the company’s database of more than 100,000 recycling locations across the nation. You can also filter your search results by the material you need to recycle.
Waste and recycling contacts
In North Carolina, most recycling, waste reduction and solid waste management programs are run by local governments, according to DEQ.
You can look up solid waste contacts for your city or town at deq.nc.gov/recycling/lgcontacts.
Just type the name of your city, town or county in the search bar or zoom in and click the area where you live to get contact information for local staff and a link to the local website.
Grants available for NC multifamily recycling
NCDEQ’s Multifamily Recycling Grant Program offers funding to initiate or expand multifamily recycling programs within the state and is open to multifamily property owners or management companies.
Grant funds can be used to purchase equipment, such as carts, dumpsters, collection vehicles, concrete pads and recycling corrals, according to NCDEQ. Funds can also be used to fund positions or labor to manage multifamily recycling programs.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. For more information or assistance, call 919-707-8135.
How to reduce waste
Here are some simple ways you can reduce waste in your home, according to One Tree Planted, a conservation nonprofit:
Buy bulk goods and store them in reusable containers.
Invest in a quality water filter and a reusable water bottle, instead of using plastic bottles
Buy cloth produce bags instead of using plastic ones.
Avoid buying produce wrapped in plastic.
Avoid single-use plastics, such as plastic cutlery, straws, plates and cups.
Compost your food scraps.
Replace your soap bottles with bars of soap.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 4:29 PM with the headline "It’s illegal to trash plastic bottles in NC. But what if I can’t recycle?."
