Chesapeake, VA Trash & Recycling: Bulk Item Disposal (2026)

The city's bulk trash program lets residents set out large household items separately from routine garbage and recycling. Sec. 62-58(d) of the City Code caps each collection at four feet wide, four feet high and ten feet long, and residents get up to twelve of these non-yard-waste pickups per address every calendar year. Items go out no earlier than three work days before the scheduled date, stacked safely at the curbline or street edge, clear of sidewalks, driveways and multi-use trails. A resident who wants a pickup has to call or use the online request system at the department of public works; the city does not simply show up because bulky items appear at the curb.

Vegetative waste such as tree trunks and stumps does not count as bulk trash, nor do the hazardous, construction-debris or nonconforming items barred under Sec. 62-59, so a stump or a load of demolition drywall left at the curb will not be picked up under this program. Where bulk trash sits unlawfully on or near the right-of-way abutting a private lot, Sec. 62-58(e) creates a rebuttable presumption that the abutting property owner caused or allowed the violation, shifting the burden to the owner to show otherwise.

Sec. 62-58(f) treats 48 hours' written notice as reasonable notice of a placement, size or timing violation, and that notice can simply be posted on the front door of the building on the abutting parcel rather than mailed. Evictions are carved out separately: a law enforcement officer executing an order of possession can place household furnishings and other bulk items at the curb without the ordinary limits, though the officer is expected to coordinate prompt collection with public works.