Public Works Frequently Asked Questions

Click here to see the scheduled garbage collection map.

If you placed your cart at the street prior to 7:00 AM, you may call the Public Works Department at 919-563-3401 to request an out-of-cycle collection.

The City of Mebane contracts with GFL Environmental to collect and haul acceptable recyclable material for processing.

View the GFL website here.

Call 919-563-3401 and provide the name of the street and closest address to the pothole.

The State of North Carolina banned TV’s and computers from being placed in the landfill. The Alamance County Landfill accepts most anything electronic based (or most anything with a plug). The landfill is located at 2701 Austin Quarter Rd. in Graham, NC.

Used tires are not collected by the city and must be taken to the Alamance County Landfill located at 2701 Austin Quarter Rd. in Graham, NC.

Properly disposing of used oil is the legally and environmentally right action to take. Oil is considered hazardous waste and should never be poured on the ground or in storm drains. Please put the used oil in a closed container and take it, along with your used oil filter, to one of the locations provided below based on the county in which you reside.

If you are a resident of Alamance County, you may take up to five gallons of used oil to the Alamance County landfill located at 2701 Austin Quarter Road in Graham.

If you are a resident of Orange County, you may drop off used oil in containers at the Bradshaw Quarry Rd. Waste and Recycling Center located at 6705 Bradshaw Quarry Rd near Mebane.

Used oil and filters are not collected by the city.  Some auto parts stores also collect these items if you purchased the oil and filter from the store.

The City of Mebane can not collect paints and chemicals.

There are two Household Hazardous Waste collections in Orange County:

The Eubanks Rd. Waste & Recycling Center

The Walnut Grove Church Rd. Waste & Recycling Center

The City of Mebane will collect appliances, known as ‘white goods’, such as refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, and dishwashers. City staff will create a work order on your normal collection day to have your appliance collected.

Click here to see the scheduled recycling collection map.

For new residents to Mebane, you may pay for a new garbage cart when you start your city utility account at the Mebane City Hall located at 106 East Washington St. The fee for the monthly solid waste service and cart are shown in the city’s fee schedule. If you are moving into a home previously occupied, then a garbage and recycling cart should be at the residence.

Once you pay for the new garbage cart, then the Public Works Department is notified of the purchase and a cart is delivered to your house along with a welcome packet of information. The garbage cart delivery will occur by the next business day after purchase.

Since the city contracts recycling material hauling, the contractor will deliver your recycling cart typically the week after you established a city utility account. The recycling cart is paid to the contractor via the city’s contract, thus a Mebane resident doesn’t pay a recycling cart fee.

The garbage cart is purchased by the resident, and as such the resident is responsible for the cart. To aid in locating your cart, the cart is assigned to the address by the cart number located on the front of the container. Call the Public Works Department for your assigned cart number.

Should you not be able to locate the cart, report the cart stolen to the Mebane Police Department. You may need to purchase a new cart if the cart isn’t located.

The Public Works Department, Sanitation Division does offer special collection services upon receiving a valid request. Ask your doctor to complete a verification form which is available by calling the Public Works Department at 919-563-3401.

Upon receiving the completed doctor’s verification form, special collection services will be scheduled for the duration agreed upon based on the doctor’s recommendation. This service is typically provided for the physically or elderly disabled. City staff will occasionally request an update from the receiver of this special service, typically via mail, to assure this service is still required.

A cardboard convenience center is available for Mebane residents with excessive cardboard for recycling. The center is located in the parking lot of the Mebane Arts & Community Center at 633 Corregidor St. This center will only accept broken down (folded) cardboard boxes. Cardboard left outside the container will be taken to the landfill. Please properly dispose of trash.

Your garbage cart should be placed at the curb no later than 7:00 AM on your collection day. Remove your empty container from the curb by midnight on the day of collection. Carts should not be left on the curb during weekends. Your cooperation in abiding by this requirement helps keep the City of Mebane beautiful.

Bulk items, such as mattresses, appliances, and furniture,  will be collected on your normal garbage collection day.

You do not need to call in for a special collection unless you are requesting a large quantity of items to be disposed of and want city staff to review the amount to assure city collection of material. Please separate bulk items from your regular garbage as these items will be collected using a knuckle boom or rear loaded truck.

The City does not collect debris from building or contract work, which includes tires, shingles, concrete, masonry, rocks, dirt, stumps, logs, hazardous chemicals, paint, or sealed containers.  These items should be disposed of in a complaint and appropriate manner by contacting the Alamance County landfill at (336)376-8902.

Yard waste will be collected on your normal garbage collection day. You do not need to call in for a special collection unless you are requesting a large quantity of yard waste to be disposed of and you want city staff to review the amount to assure city collection of material.

The City will not pick up yard debris from contracted work.

Yard waste is described as vegetative matter resulting from normal landscaping maintenance performed by the homeowner only, including but not limited to leaves, twigs, grass, limbs, shrub clippings, hay/pine straw, pine cones and small logs. City staff prefers that these items be placed in a permanent, reusable can or other receptacle to be provided by the customer. Disposable plastic bags or other disposable containers will be serviced, however, this option is not environmental friendly.

State law requires yard waste to be separated from trash and recycling.

Seasonally, the City offers a loose-leaf collection program service for its citizens. The Sanitation Department collects loose leaves beginning in October and continues through early March each year. The program provides residents with the opportunity to have loose leaves collected at roadside without the need of bagging during this collection schedule.

The program operates on a city-wide routing system that is based on city staff completing one leaf collection route of the entire city. Once the city route is completed, staff then returns to the beginning of the same planned route and begins again. A typical loose leaf collection route around the entire city takes about three to four weeks depending on the amount of leaves placed out for collection. This equates to about five complete loose leaf collection routes around the city.

If you currently have a 65-gallon recycling cart and would prefer a 95-gallon cart, please contact the Public Works Department at 919-563-3401 to request a cart change-out. Staff will submit your address to our recycling material collector, GFL Environmental, for changing out the cart. Then, simply leave your recycling cart at the street on your normal recycling collection day and GFL will change out the carts after collection occurred.

Please note that GFL will remove the 65-gallon cart in place of the 95-gallon cart.

Please allow one to two collection cycles for the cart change to occur and leave your cart at the street until at least 6:00 PM on your normal recycling collection day.