Portsmouth, VA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Section 16-36 of the Portsmouth City Code sets the weekly rhythm for residential curbside service. Subsection (a) says garbage and household trash accumulated at residences is collected by the city one time each week, except when the city manager or his designee designates otherwise. Subsection (b) covers the set-out window in areas receiving automated refuse and recycling collection: residents can place the container at any time after 5:00 p.m. the day before and by 7:00 a.m. on days of collection, or as specified by the director.

In Chapter 16, the director is the director of public works or the director's authorized representative, and automated refuse collection means service to residences equipped with a city-furnished 95-gallon automated collection container. After the truck passes, the receptacle must come off the collection site as soon as possible and be stored beside or behind the dwelling or at a site acceptable to the director. The hard deadline is the evening of collection day. Yard waste packaged in clear plastic bags goes out at the same time as the automated refuse container.

Under § 16-32(b), those bags cannot exceed 40 gallons or 25 pounds each, customers are limited to 20 bags per collection, and no other trash, refuse or garbage can be mixed in with the yard waste. Section 16-37(b) sets the outer limit on early set-out: no materials, containers or bulk refuse can be placed for collection more than 24 hours prior to the scheduled collection date. Bulk refuse is not part of the weekly run at all. Under § 16-35, it is picked up from residential dwellings by appointment scheduled in advance by telephone or internet, and bulk refuse is not collected from vacant lots or from business and commercial establishments, including multifamily residential complexes. The current wording of § 16-36 was carried through Ordinance No. 2026-40, adopted May 12, 2026.