Charleston County Resilience and Sustainability

Resident Recycling

Charleston County's Department of Environment Management oversees recycling collection. For more information about recycling pick-up or dropsites and to learn more about what you can recycle, please visit their website: Recycling Convenience Centers & Dropsites. In November the County passed a resolution describing the importance of all different types of recycling. Read the resolution here.

You can also view the convenience centers and dropsites on the map below:

Click the button below to load the map or open it in a new window.

Oyster Shell Recycling

Shells are collected by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and used to rebuild oyster reefs. Learn more about oyster shell recycling at Charleston-SC.gov/Oyster-Recycling.

County Electronic Waste (Staff Only Program)

Did you know all of the County government's electronic waste (e-waste) is handed over to an e-waste recycling vendor? In Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023, over 24,000 pounds of e-waste was collected. Items include:

  • Retired servers, network, and rack equipment
  • Retired printers, scanners
  • Retired PCs, monitors, docking stations, keyboard, mouse that were purchased and not part of a lease
  • Retired network, power cords
  • Miscellaneous items like label printers, speakers, webcams etc. that are not functional

Battery Recycling for County Employees

In 2022, Charleston County's Green Liaisons program started a battery drop-off program for County employees to deposit batteries in bins located in the ten County buildings with the most staff. The batteries are recycled at Bees Ferry Convenience Center. Green Liaisons is a County green team comprised of volunteers from County departments that focus on environmental programming and staff education. It important to recycle batteries because if they are placed in landfills, the toxic materials can leak into the soil, which can then reach the water supply. This program has collected over 540 lbs. of batteries.

Single-use Plastic Ordinance

In November 2019, the County, along with the City of Charleston and the Town of James Island, adopted an ordinance to eliminate the use of single-use plastic carryout and merchandise bags, as well as certain plastic carryout food and packaging items. The ordinance went into effect on January 1, 2020 and applies to the County's unincorporated areas.

In October 2025, this ordinance was amended to close a loophole and prohibit the use of thick plastic bags.