Norfolk, VA Trash & Recycling: Bin Placement Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Earliest set-out
- 5:00 p.m. the night before collection
- Latest set-out
- 7:00 a.m. collection day
- Removal deadline
- 11:30 p.m. collection day
- Storage setback
- 5 feet behind building's front plane
- Alternative
- Screened from street view
Summary
Norfolk gives residential and business customers a fixed set-out window: cart at the curb no earlier than 5 p.m. the night before, no later than 7 a.m. on collection day, and pulled back in by 11:30 p.m. that night under City Code Sec. 41-20, with carts otherwise kept five feet behind the building's front plane or screened from the street.
(a)Place the container at the edge of pavement of the public street, alley or area designated by the director of public works or his designee as the pickup area, so that there is no danger of the container being overturned and so that there is sufficient clearance to accommodate city collection equipment, vehicles and pedestrians. Placement shall not obstruct or interfere with use of any driveway.(b)For residents and businesses receiving regular weekly solid waste collection, place containers at the collection site no later than 7:00 a.m. on the day of collection and not earlier than 5:00 p.m. on the night prior to the day of collection....(d)Remove all emptied containers from the alley, curbside, street or sidewalk as soon as practicable after they have been emptied, but in no case later than 11:30 p.m. of the collection day.(e)Containers shall be located five (5) feet behind the front plane of the building or structure on the premises or screened so as to not be visible from the street or public right-of-way except during the times prescribed for placement for collection. This provision applies to all residential and commercial locations.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 166).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 41-20 puts the placement and removal duty on the property owner or the container's user. Subsection (a) requires the container to sit at the edge of pavement of the public street, alley, or the area the director of public works designates as the pickup spot, positioned so it can't tip over and leaves enough clearance for collection equipment, vehicles and pedestrians, and it cannot block a driveway. on the collection day itself. on the collection day. Between collections, subsection (e) requires containers to sit at least five feet behind the front plane of the building or be screened from view of the street or public right-of-way, a rule that applies to every residential and commercial location in the city; where that isn't physically possible, the director of public health can approve an alternate storage spot.
Subsection (f) lets the director of public works reroute a residence's set-out point to the opposite side of the street or another spot when conditions require it, and subsection (h) extends the whole section's placement rules to recycling containers as well.
Violations & Fines
Leaving a container out past 11:30 p.m., setting it out before 5:00 p.m. the night before, or storing it in view of the street outside the five-foot screening rule is a violation of Sec. 41-20. As with the rest of the chapter, Sec. 41-1 makes a violation a class 3 misdemeanor, escalating to a class 2 misdemeanor for a third violation within twelve months, and Sec. 41-6 authorizes an inspector to issue a prepayment penalty of $25, $50, or $100 depending on how many violations the same person has racked up that year.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Norfolk
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