Trash & Recycling Carts FAQs

GFL Environmental provides and maintains 95-gallon trash and recycling carts, for free, to each residential customer serviced through their agreement with the Town of Atlantic Beach.

GFLstates the carts are wind resistant and should reduce the opportunity for litterand the recycle carts allow for more capacity for the residents to recycle. The carts are digitally coded for the service address and are designed to be emptied by automatic trucks.

• Royal blue carts will be for recycling and solid dark green carts will be for trash.
• Service Schedule: Recycling once weekly; trash service is twice per week during summer and once per week in the off-season. Only GFL-issued carts will be serviced.
• GFL will repair or replace carts at no additional charge if broken during service by contacting GFL directly at (252) 223-4176.

For additional information, please contact Town Hall at (252) 726-1366 or email waterbilling@atlanticbeach-nc.com.

Curbside Household Waste and Recycling Program Transition
Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the trash and recycling pickup schedules changing?
  • Carts shall be placed curbside on your service day by 7 AM and removed that evening. If GFL is running behind for whatever reason, and your road has not been serviced, keep your cart curbside and they should get to it that evening or the following day.
    • Off-season Schedule: (The week following Labor Day until the week prior to Memorial Monday)
      • Oceanside Trash: Monday
      • Soundside Trash: Tuesday
      • Recycling for all: Monday
    • Summer Schedule: (Memorial Day through the week of Labor Day)
      • Oceanside Trash: Monday and Thursday
      • Soundside Trash: Tuesday and Friday
      • Recycling for all: Monday
• What holidays are observed by GFL?
  • GFL does not service household trash or recycling carts on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day. Typically, they double up and service those addresses the next business day along with their normally scheduled routes.
• Do I have to use the provided 95-gallon green trash carts and/or blue recycling carts or may I provide my own?
  • Only GFL issued carts will be serviced.
• What if I need additional trash carts or recycling carts?
  • TRASH: If you need more trash carts than you are already paying monthly for, contact Town Hall at waterbilling@atlanticbeach-nc.com or 252-726-1366 to request an additional monthly trash fee to be added to your utility bill. Town Hall staff will then contact GFL to have your additional cart delivered to your address. If you only have occasional trash overflow (less than once per three months), you may place the additional bagged trash next to your trash cart.
  • RECYCLING: Each account is provided only 1 recycling cart. Extra recyclable materials can be delivered to any of the County’s Convenience Sites at no charge, the closest being Vashti Drive in Morehead City and Hibbs Road in Newport.
• What do I do if I miss my regularly scheduled trash or recycling day and have items for disposal?
  • GFL has a video recording system on their trucks as well as barcodes that are scanned when serviced. They will verify if your trash/recycling was picked up or not before going back to an address. You may either skip that day’s service and put it out on the next regularly scheduled day, or you may bring household bagged trash and your recyclable materials to any of the County’s Convenience Sites at no charge, the closest being Vashti Drive in Morehead City and Hibbs Road in Newport.
• What do I do if I put my trash or recycling carts out by 7 AM on the designated day and it was not picked up by GFL by 8 PM that evening?
  • Contact GFL directly by calling 252-223-4176. If you contact Town Hall, we will provide you the contact information for GFL.
    GFL has a video recording system on their trucks as well as barcodes that are scanned when serviced. They will verify if your trash/recycling was picked up or not before going back to an address.
• What do I do if my cart is missing or damaged?
  • GFL will repair or replace them at no additional charge if they are broken during service. Contact GFL directly by calling 252-223-4176. If you contact Town Hall, we will provide you the contact information for GFL.
• Do I need to bag my household trash or recyclables in my carts?
  • Household trash must be bagged within your green trash cart. Recyclables are not to be bagged within the blue recycle cart.
• What items will GFL pick up on my designated trash day?
  • Household bagged trash and household furniture (mattresses, box springs, chairs, dressers, patio furniture, etc). The Town picks up yard debris and white goods (refrigerators, washers, dryers, grills, etc) weekly. Televisions MUST be personally disposed of at the Carteret County Convenience Site at Hibbs Road in Newport. Construction debris (lumber, shingles, windows, porch or pier decking/posts, etc) MUST be personally disposed of at the Carteret County Convenience Site at Hibbs Road in Newport unless you hired someone to do the work, in which the contractor is responsible for removal.
    • After a severe natural disaster designated by FEMA, the Town may allow construction debris to be placed curbside for disposal by the Town or the Town’s designated contractor. This is only permitted if this collection has been approved as reimbursable by FEMA.
  • Household hazardous waste (latex and oil paint, paint thinners, used motor oil, lawn and garden pesticides and fertilizer, gasoline, cooking oil, antifreeze, batteries, etc) is collected by the County on designated days at designated locations, typically annually.
• What can I recycle and what do I do with items that either don’t qualify or qualify but do not fit in the cart?
  • The recycling symbol/ number doesn’t actually mean a product is recyclable. It’s only accepted if your recycling center can sort that item and if the material has market value. So forget the numbers, know this: plastic bottles, tubs, jugs, jars, paper, cartons, and cardboard are recyclable. When in doubt, throw it out.
    Recycled materials should be emptied and rinsed before placed in carts. Do not bag your recyclables within the cart.
    Extra recyclable materials can be delivered to any of the County’s Convenience Sites at no charge, the closest being Vashti Drive in Morehead City and Hibbs Road in Newport.
• Do the new carts belong to me? If not, what do I do with them if I move?
  • All carts are the property of GFL. Please leave the cart at your current address if you move.
• Where do I place the carts to be serviced?
  • Place carts adjacent to the curb or roadway with the handle and wheels placing your house and the lid opening facing the street prior to 7 AM on collection day. The lid of the container must be fully closed for it to be serviced – so don’t overfill your cart. Carts should be at least 10 feet away from mailboxes, vehicles, street lights, or power poles. Carts should be placed at least 3 feet apart from each other.