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

Chapter 10, Article II regulates the private and commercial haulers who actually pick up refuse in James City County; the county has no separate municipal trash-collection department for general household waste. Section 10-8 makes it unlawful for a refuse remover to fail to remove refuse in a manner that avoids creating a nuisance or harming public health, or to let refuse spill, fall, be dumped, spilled, thrown or leaked into a street, sewer inlet or vacant lot while collecting or transporting it. No known harmful material, such as explosive, toxic, radioactive or highly combustible waste, may be removed for disposal without the county administrator's written permission, with a copy sent to the manager, except when public officials or employees are handling it during an emergency.

Section 10-9 sets vehicle standards: refuse bodies must be constructed to prevent refuse from spilling, leaking, blowing off, or being deposited on a street during loading or transit; nonwatertight bodies are permitted only if liquid or semiliquid refuse is carried in watertight containers inside them; the body must be built so refuse can only be carried in the enclosed compartment; and any vehicle that is not fully enclosed must carry a tarpaulin or other cover to keep refuse from falling onto the street. Section 10-13 separately requires that collected refuse be emptied only at a licensed landfill or approved disposal facility, except in a bona fide emergency such as a truck fire, after which the remover must clean up immediately.