Hanover County, VA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)

Section 18-21 of the Hanover County Code requires that garbage be kept in tightly covered, leakproof containers on any premises zoned for commercial, industrial or residential use that falls within the suburban service area depicted on the phased suburban development plan in the county's comprehensive plan. Those containers must remain covered and secured at all times until the waste is transported to a solid waste disposal facility, picked up by a garbage or refuse remover as defined in Section 18-20, or otherwise disposed of as permitted by law; the section sets no specific curbside set-out time because Hanover has no county-run curbside collection, so residents and haulers coordinate pickup directly.

Section 18-20 defines 'garbage' broadly for this article to include all trash, garbage, refuse, litter, and waste animal and vegetable matter, and defines 'owner' to reach not just titleholders but lessees, tenants, principal occupants and property managers, so the container duty follows whoever actually has care and control of the premises, not just the deed holder. A second, related rule in Section 18-21(b) separately bars storing, accumulating or dumping garbage or other waste in such quantity, manner or duration that it becomes a nuisance or a danger to public health or safety, whether or not it is in a container.

Together the two subsections mean an open or leaking can on a residential lot, and a covered can left to overflow for weeks, can both draw a violation. Reports go to the director of public works under Section 18-23, and a violation is enforced through the same notice-and-abatement process and civil penalty schedule in Section 18-27 that governs weed and grass complaints in the same article.