Single Stream Program: Environmental Management Department

Collection Guidelines

Proper cart placement makes Charleston County's automated collection safer, cleaner, and more efficient.

Place recycling at the curb by 7am on your recycling day, or the night before.
Set your cart at least 3 feet away from cars, mailboxes, and trees or shrubbery.
Make sure the handles of the cart are facing your house.
Only recycling roll carts issued by Charleston County can be used for this program. Old 22-gallon recycling bins or small recycling bins purchased on your own cannot be collected by our trucks at the curb. Feel free to use these bins for recycling stations around your home, but please do not place them at the curb; Charleston County reserves the right to remove small bins that are placed at the curb due driver safety issues.
Charleston County Environmental Management collects material contained inside your recycling cart ONLY. Do not leave material outside of your cart, including cardboard boxes. Please flatten all cardboard boxes and cut them to size, if necessary, and place them inside your cart.

Before you recycle:

Empty and rinse all containers to remove food residue.
Flatten boxboard and corrugated cardboard.

For more information on what can be recycled, please view the Recycling Do's and Don'ts. If you have any questions or concerns, call the Charleston County Recycling Center at (843) 720-7111.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Answer:If you suspect that your recycling cart has been missed, please give our crews until the end of the day to service you; they are often out on the routes until late evening.

If your cart is full the morning following your scheduled service day, please contact our office. Missed pickups must be reported the day after the scheduled service day

Answer:Please give our crews until the end of the day to service your recycling cart.

When there is heavy volume on the routes, our trucks may be out servicing carts until the late evening. If your cart is still full the morning following your scheduled service day, please notify our office. Missed pickups must be reported the day after the scheduled service day.

Answer:For route efficiency, the truck will service one side of the street, then continue on to other parts of the community, often not returning to service the other side of the street for hours.

Please give our crews to the end of the day (they are often out until late evening) to service your cart; if your cart is still full the morning following your scheduled service day, please notify our office.

Answer:To request a recycling cart, you can submit an online request using the Recycling Cart Request form, LiveChat with us on this webpage (chat on bottom right of your screen), email us at Recycle@CharlestonCounty.org, or call us at (843) 720-7111.

Answer:If your recycling cart has been damaged, please LiveChat with us on this webpage (chat on bottom right of your screen), email us at Recycle@CharlestonCounty.org, or call us at (843) 720-7111 and we will repair or replace it as soon as possible.

Please make sure to leave your damaged cart visible and accessible for our crews!

Answer:At this time, we are not currently providing additional recycling carts.

We will evaluate requests for second recycling carts once Charleston County returns more to business as usual. Please do not leave any material outside of your cart. Overflow recyclable material may be dropped off at any one of Charleston County's many convenience center or dropsite locations. Please remember to practice safe social distancing when using these facilities.

Answer:Steps to identify your next recycling service day:

Visit our online recycle day lookup and click through the blue box to confirm that you are a residential customer (commercial, multi-family, and school customers please contact us at (843) 720-7111).
Type in your address on the upper left.
You will see a map of your home's location overlayed with a specific color (your color-coded zone), and a white text box will provide you with your next scheduled service day.
For future reference, choose your downloadable PDF schedule based on your location (Downtown or Countywide), then find your color-coded zone on the map. Your specific color-coded service days will be shown on the corresponding map.

Answer:All material must be contained inside your cart for pickup. Do not leave material outside of your cart, including cardboard boxes.

Please flatten all cardboard boxes and cut them to size, if necessary, and place them inside your cart. Make sure to remove any non-recyclable packaging materials such as styrofoam, shrink wrap, etc.

Large quantities of cardboard, such as from a move-in, or oversized cardboard boxes may be dropped off at any one of Charleston County's many convenience center or dropsite locations; these locations have large containers that can accept flattened cardboard boxes.

Answer:For information on specific items please see the Recycling Do's and Don'ts of what is accepted vs not accepted and our Comprehensive Recycling Guide.

If you have a question about an item that is not listed, please email us at Recycle@CharlestonCounty.org and we will respond as soon as possible.

Answer:We have many ways for you to communicate with us!

LiveChat with us on this webpage (chat on bottom right of your screen)
Email us at Recycle@CharlestonCounty.org
Message us on our Facebook page
Text HELLO to (843) 800-4121 to chat with CitiBot.
Call us at (843) 720-7111.

Answer:Charleston County Environmental Management collects material contained inside your recycling cart ONLY.

Do not leave material outside of your cart, including cardboard boxes. Please flatten all cardboard boxes and cut them to size, if necessary, and place them inside your cart.

Our trucks are fully automated, meaning that the driver uses a side-loading arm that he operates from inside the cab of the truck to dump each cart. The purpose of these trucks is to allow the driver to remain inside the truck whenever possible, both for route efficiency as well as for safety, which is another reason all material needs to be inside the recycling cart.

Please do not place small bins (i.e. Rubbermaid tubs, trash cans, old Charleston County 22-gallon recycling bins) full of recyclables out for pickup. Any overflow recyclable material you have may be dropped off at any one of Charleston County's many dropsite locations; these locations have large containers that can accept flattened cardboard boxes.

Answer:Charleston County Environmental Management does not collect trash, bulk waste, or yard waste.

These services are managed by the various municipalities and public service districts (PSDs) throughout the county. For questions about your trash/garbage collection:

City of Charleston: (843) 724-7311
Folly Beach: (843) 588-2447
Isle of Palms: (843) 886-8956
James Island PSD: (843) 795-9060
Kiawah Island: (843) 768-9166
Lincolnville: (843) 873-3261
Mount Pleasant: (843) 849-2022
North Charleston: (843) 745-1026
Republic Services: (800) 235-4237
Seabrook Island: (843) 768-9121
St. Andrews PSD: (843) 556-6310
Sullivan's Island: (843) 883-3198

Answer: With just a little effort, recycling pays back huge dividends to our community.

The benefits of recycling are:

Saves energy
Reduces pollution
Preserves natural resources
Decreases the amount of materials buried in landfills
Minimizes the expansion of landfills in residential areas
Reduces our reliance on landfills

Answer:Please place your cart at the curb no later than 7AM on your service day.

It is very important that you place your roll cart properly at the curb so the robotic arm can lift it. Face the handles of the card toward your home. Keep a clearance zone of 3 feet around the cart, away from mailboxes, parked cars, trash cans or trees. Keep the lid closed.

Answer:Do not bag recyclables; keep them loose in your recycling cart, not in paper bags, plastic bags, or boxes.

Plastic bags are NOT accepted for recycling.

Feel free to utilize a bag to help transport your recyclables from inside your home out to your recycling cart, but please make sure to empty the material loosely into your cart, then reuse/dispose of the plastic bag or recycle the paper bag.

Answer:Instead of separating your recyclables, you can mix them together in your single stream roll cart for automated collection instead of separating out into two separate streams into two containers (dual stream).

The sorting is done for you at the recycling center. We make it easier so you'll recycle more!

Environmental Management