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

County Code Sec. 22-43(a) sets the collection floor for the unincorporated county: refuse and recyclable materials from every residential area must be collected "not less than once weekly," yard waste and brush for composting must go out weekly from March through the end of December, and Christmas trees are collected countywide, including condominiums and apartments, during the first two weeks of January. Sec. 22-43(b) requires twice-weekly service for hotels, motels, restaurants, schools, institutions and apartments, and lets the health department mandate more frequent pickup where public health requires it.

Sec. , and the Director of Public Works can force a hauler to shift its hours if collection is creating a nuisance or noise disturbance in a neighborhood. Sec. , but only if the collection point sits at least 100 yards from any lawfully occupied residential dwelling. Subsection (c) bars any permitted hauler from mixing source-separated recyclables or yard waste back into the regular refuse load. Sec. 22-22 caps how long a resident can leave containers at the curb: they must go out at ground level, out of the vehicle travel way, and cannot sit at the curb or an agreed collection point for more than 24 hours after being set out.

Refuse and food waste vehicles, apart from dedicated recycling trucks, must pass an annual county inspection under Sec. 22-38, and no one may operate as a refuse or food waste remover without a Department of Public Works permit under Sec. 22-56.