In Elkmont, Limestone County collects the garbage in county-owned carts, and the county’s rule is simple: “the lid must be CLOSED.” A closed lid keeps the flies out. It also keeps the smell in. TidyCan cleans your cart on your pickup day, in town and across the 35620 area. Service starts at $30 every 4 weeks for up to two bins.
Limestone County collects Elkmont’s garbage
On April 3, 2023, the Limestone County Solid Waste Department started running its own curbside collection, once a week, for more than 27,000 households. The county’s 2024 solid waste management plan lists Elkmont under that county program, and the county’s collection-day map puts central Elkmont on its Tuesday route. The Town of Elkmont’s own website has no garbage page, so the county’s guidelines are the rules that apply to your cart.
Those guidelines are clear about whose cart it is. “ALL TRASH CARTS ARE THE PROPERTY OF LIMESTONE COUNTY,” and a cart damaged beyond reasonable use through the customer’s negligence is replaced at the customer’s expense.
“All garbage must be located inside a Limestone County Solid Waste trash cart, and the lid must be CLOSED.”
Limestone County Solid Waste Collection Guidelines
| Limestone County cart rule | What the county says |
|---|---|
| Who collects in Elkmont | Limestone County Solid Waste, which started its own program in April 2023 |
| When to put it out | No later than 5:00 a.m. on your collection day |
| Lid | Closed, with all garbage inside the cart |
| Placement | Five feet from obstructions, ten feet from vehicles, fifteen feet of overhead clearance, never under trees |
| Cart | Property of Limestone County |
| Fee | $18 per billing cycle, collected through Athens Utilities |
The Tuesday route comes from the county’s map for the middle of town. Routes can change, so look up your own address on the county’s solid waste pages before you plan around it.
Elkmont Town Hall, for reference: 25465 Railroad Street, 256-732-4211. For cart questions, go to Limestone County Solid Waste, since the county runs the trucks.
Most of 35620 is county road, not town street
The Town of Elkmont is small: 444 residents in 2024, according to the Census Bureau, on about 1.6 square miles, just south of the Tennessee state line. The 35620 ZIP code is much bigger. About 98.5 percent of its land lies outside town limits, and all of it sits in Limestone County, so the county roads around town are on the same county carts and the same closed-lid rule. Everything on this page applies from Elkmont High School and the town parks out to the Sulphur Creek Trails and beyond.
No curbside recycling, so one cart carries it all
Neither the town nor the county lists curbside recycling for Elkmont. The county’s plan describes its drop-off center in Athens as “the only free option currently for rural residents.” Unless you make that drive, the soda cans, bottles and food containers go into the same cart as everything else, and that sugary residue is what sours first.
Why a Limestone County summer is the whole problem
NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Huntsville International Airport, the nearest official reporting station at about 23 miles from Elkmont, put the average July high at 91.5°F and the average July low at 71.1°F. The nights barely cool the cart off. A closed plastic container with food waste in the bottom sits in that for weeks at a time, and that is what turns a cart into something you hold your breath to open.
What we do about it in Elkmont
We run Elkmont and Limestone County routes on your pickup day.
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Self-contained truckOur truck carries its own water and takes the dirty water away with it.
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200°F washWashed inside and out with high pressure water heated to 200°F.
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Sanitized and deodorizedThen set back where it belongs, ready for the week.
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Nothing down your drivewayNo harsh chemicals, and the wastewater leaves with us rather than running down your driveway.
Ready to stop dreading trash day? Monthly service in Elkmont is $30 and covers up to two bins. Request a quote or Call (256) 320-8042.
