We offer help to customers who can't physically wheel their recycling or garbage carts to the curb and have no one living with them who can do it.
Eligibility
To qualify for the Backyard Need Assistance Program you must:
- Have a permanent disability and do not have some one residing with you who can move the carts to the curb, OR
- Have a temporary disability like an injury and do not have some one residing with you who can move the carts to the curb
- Be a Raleigh residential garbage and recycling curbside customer
- Complete and submit the Need Assistance Program application. The application includes a healthcare provider's signature to confirm eligibility. Only customers with completed applications on file are eligible for backyard collection. The application can be found in the "How to Apply" section below.
Note: *Recertification may be required if circumstances change such as an able-bodied person moving into your home, or if the property is sold.
How to Apply
- Download or print the Need Assistance Program application.
- Send or give the application to your health provider.
- Have your physician or physician's assistant complete the healthcare provider section and sign it.
- Make sure to sign the application yourself.
- Mail completed and signed application to: Solid Waste Services, PO Box 590, Raleigh, NC 27602 or email to SWSCodeCompliance@raleighnc.gov.
To have an application mailed to you please call our Customer Care Center at 919-996-3245.
Guidelines
Once your application is approved and you are added to the Need Assistance Program, follow program guidelines to prevent a missed collection or service.
- Please be sure to prepare your garbage or recycling correctly or it will not be collected. Find out how to prepare your waste
- Your carts must be accessible to our crews. (Our crews will not go on porches, behind fences or gates, in garages, up steps, on decks, or collect from unsafe areas.)
- All animals must be secured and enclosed in a fence.
- Yard waste is not included in the program.
Let Us Know if You no Longer Need Service
If you no longer need the service please let us know so that we can remove the address from the program list. Call our Customer Care Center at 919-996-3245.