At their March 3, 2021 meeting, Nags Head’s Board of Commissioners approved several sanitation-related changes that will refine the Town’s trash collection schedule and include TFC Recycling’s $9/month residential subscription-based curbside recycling service, expected to begin May 1, 2021.
“We’re excited for the curbside recycling service to start so our homeowners can once again have their recyclables actually recycled,” said Nags Head Mayor Ben Cahoon.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we moved through the process to ensure we did what we determined to be best for our town. TFC is a family-operated recycler focusing on collecting, processing, recovering, and responsibly disposing of post-industrial and post-consumer recyclables, so we are confident they are passionate about recycling and providing quality service to their customers.”
Subscription-Based Curbside Recycling Service Subscriber Sign Up
The Town is working towards a start date of May 1, 2021 for the curbside recycling service. Those interested in the service are being asked to provide contact information on Nags Head’s web site at nagsheadnc.gov/recycling. TFC Recycling will then contact those on the list to set up an account. The Town needs a minimum number of subscribers before the service will start.
Monitor nagsheadnc.gov/recycling for more updates on the service including how to subscribe. For more information on TFC, visit their web site tfcrecycling.com.
Blue Carts Only to be Used for Recycling
In 2016, when the Town initiated its residential curbside recycling service, blue recycling carts were issued at no charge to all residences for use with the service. These carts were purchased by the Town with help from the North Carolina Division of Environmental Quality’s Community Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant Program. Since the Town is now initiating the curbside recycling service, the blue carts are to be used only for those participating in the recycling program. These carts may not be used for trash or by non-subscribers and will not be serviced if used improperly. To limit confusion on how carts may be used, the Town’s goal is for only those properties in the subscription program to retain their recycling carts. Therefore, the Town will be collecting the blue recycling carts from each residence and reissuing them to those households subscribing with TFC. The recycling carts may be used free of charge.
Collection of the blue recycling carts will begin March 15, 2021 along South Virginia Dare Trail north of Gulfstream Street in the Whalebone Junction area. Carts in this area should be placed by the road on the day of trash service and left there until staff collects them. The remaining areas of Nags Head will be collected in following weeks; additional information regarding the cart collection process will be available at nagsheadnc.gov/sanitation.
Property owners who paid a fee for additional carts after 2016 may call Nags Head’s Public Works office at 252-441-1122 to inquire about a credit or refund.
“We approved several changes to our trash collection schedule and the routes to improve our sanitation services,” said Mayor Cahoon. “Our refuse collection is challenging due to the weekly influx of new, temporary residents in our warmer months and the landfill’s limited Saturday operating hours. Staff thoroughly analyzed our collection routes and their volumes, along with many other variables, to determine the most efficient, productive, and logical method for collecting waste in Nags Head.”
Trash Collection Route and Schedule Changes
To fine tune Nags Head’s trash collection service, and to meet TFC’s curbside recycling service
calendar, the Town is changing its collection routes and schedule, which will take effect May 1, 2
2021. Unlike in years past, the schedule will remain the same all year long on all of Nags Head’s collection routes.
Currently Nags Head has three residential trash collection routes represented by color: blue, green, and red. As of May 1, there will be only two routes: blue and green.
• The green route will incorporate properties on the red route.
• All routes will receive two days of trash collection using the green carts. Recycling
subscribers will receive one day of collection using the blue carts.
• The blue route will incorporate the Village at Nags Head west of South Croatan Highway.
Properties on the green route will have trash collection on Tuesdays and Fridays and curbside recycling subscribers will have recyclable collection on Mondays.
Properties on the blue route will have trash collection on Mondays and Thursdays and curbside recycling subscribers will have recyclable collection on Mondays.
A map of the new routes and schedule is available at nagsheadnc.gov/sanitation.
Trash Cart Requirements
Since the new subscription recycling program is voluntary, the Town’s ordinance no longer requires a minimum number of recycling carts. However, there is a requirement for seasonal rental units to maintain one trash cart for every two bedrooms.