Fauquier County, VA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Fauquier County's Department of Environmental Services administers who may pick up trash in the unincorporated county. Under Code § 10-7, any business collecting solid waste from residential, commercial or industrial customers must first hold an annual county business license, and under §§ 10-3 through 10-6 the collector also needs a solid waste permit from the director of environmental services, renewed each year between December 15 and January 15. Section 10-9 limits what a permitted hauler may pick up: ordinary household waste only, never banned wastes (regulated medical and hazardous waste and free liquids) or special wastes such as tires, lead-acid batteries, Freon appliances, electronics, construction debris, stumps or dead animals.

Section 10-10 governs how pickups run: collection vehicles may not let waste spill or fall into a street, alley, sewer inlet, vacant lot or private property, and if a spill happens during a route the collector must remedy it immediately. Loaded waste can't sit in a collection vehicle for more than twelve hours after a route finishes, and the truck must be emptied as soon as possible afterward. The county's own drop-off collection sites are reserved for Fauquier County residents disposing of ordinary household waste; commercial haulers and businesses may not use them, and oversized items that won't fit the compactors or roll-off containers are turned away.

The Health Department and Sheriff's Office assist the director of environmental services with enforcement, and a permit can be suspended or revoked under § 10-6 for unsatisfactory truck maintenance, improper disposal, or using a county permit to dump waste generated outside Fauquier County.