Pender County Trashes the Dump Decal: Just Bring Your ID

At a Glance

What Changed

Pender County is dropping the vehicle decal requirement at its solid waste convenience sites, WECT reported on August 18. The stated reason is to make access easier for residents.

In place of the sticker, staff will perform occasional random ID checks. A resident may be asked for a driver’s license or photo ID. No additional paperwork is required, and workers will not check every car.

If you show up without an ID and you are dropping a normal household load, you will be allowed to dump it and asked to bring identification next time. Military members and part-time residents holding out-of-county IDs are accommodated, and can simply state their local address.

No new code enforcement officers were hired for the transition. Existing officers will monitor compliance during regular rounds. Loads over 200 pounds still go to the transfer station at 250 Transfer Station Road in Hampstead rather than a convenience site. The county said it will watch site tonnage and adjust the process if it needs to.

What the Decal System Required

The mechanics the county just retired explain why this matters, especially on the Hampstead side of the county where most of Pender’s growth is.

Decals were issued only to residents of the county’s unincorporated areas. Two came with a paid solid waste fee on the property tax bill; additional decals cost $40 each. For years (before they began mailing them out) picking one up often meant a trip during business hours to the Pender County Tax Office at 300 E Fremont Street in Burgaw or the county Annex at 15060 US 17 in Hampstead, with a new decal each year after October 1. Anyone who closed on a house recently, rents, or owns here part of the year had a reason to be unsure whether their windshield was current before hauling a bag of trash.

Residents of the incorporated towns still use their municipal trash service. Nothing in the announcement changes that, and the county’s pages still carry the rule.

The County’s Own Pages Have Not Caught Up

As of Friday, August 21, the county’s trash and recycling page and its locations page both still say residents “must attach a trash decal to the windshield” or they “will not be permitted to use the trash and recycling facility.” I read both pages the morning this article was written.

That’s just a page nobody has updated yet, which is common enough right after a change like this. If you drive out without a sticker and get waved through, the WECT-reported policy is what staff are working from. I could not find any announcement of the change on the county’s own News Flash page as of the same morning.

Site Locations and Hours

Hours below are from the county’s locations page, read August 21, 2026. Confirm before a long drive: 910-270-5006.

The Surf City site carries its own note: residents inside Surf City town limits use the town’s trash service, not the county site.

Before You Go

The decal change does not touch what the sites accept, and two rules on the accepted and prohibited wastes page are easy to trip over:

• Construction debris and bulky furniture go in once a day, under 200 pounds, and only at Rocky Point, Burgaw, Willard, or the Hampstead transfer station. Larger loads pay the per-ton rate at the transfer station.
• Yard waste does not go to the sites at all. State law keeps it out of the landfill; the county points to composting, controlled burning, or a private hauler.

The county also lists a $250 contamination fee at the transfer station for loads containing brick, rock, concrete, soil, vegetative debris, or more than 10 percent cardboard.

Details Checked, Not Confirmed

• The effective date. Coverage is dated August 18, 2026. Whether staff stopped checking decals before that date is not stated anywhere I could find.
• Whether the change came by commissioner action or an administrative decision. The county’s News Flash page carried no solid waste announcement as of August 21.
• What happens to the $40 charge for additional decals and the October 1 annual decal cycle, both of which the county’s pages still describe.
• Whether the 200-pound threshold is measured, estimated, or applied at staff discretion.

If any of these details matter for your trip, call Pender County Solid Waste at 910-270-5006. The office can settle them faster than the web pages will.

Links & Resources

• How Pender County is making your next dump run a lot easier: WECT, Jada Harris, August 18, 2026
• Trash and Recycling Convenience Centers: Pender County, read August 21, 2026
• Convenience Center and Transfer Station Locations: Pender County, read August 21, 2026
• Accepted and Prohibited Wastes: Pender County, read August 21, 2026
• Solid Waste department: Pender County, contact and program overview, read August 21, 2026