Fauquier County, VA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

County Code Chapter 10, adopted by Ord. No. 13-4 on June 13, 2013, does not require county residents or businesses to recycle. Instead, § 10-2(b) authorizes the director of environmental services to issue "department operating procedures" governing all aspects of administration and enforcement of the county's recycling program, including the authority to charge any person who collects recyclable commodities from a county collection site or the landfill the current market price for those materials, plus associated delivery and container fees. The Health Department and Sheriff's Office assist the director in enforcing the chapter (§ 10-2(a)).

Once a resident drops off recyclable material, or any other solid waste, at a county disposal site, it becomes the property of the county (§ 10-10(b)), and county-run collection sites are limited to Fauquier County residents disposing of ordinary household waste, not commercial collectors or outside businesses (§ 10-10(a)). A "recycling center" is separately defined as any facility designed for the collection, separation, or recycling of recyclable materials (§ 10-1). Anyone who wants to operate as a commercial waste or recyclables collector in the county, rather than simply drop material at a site, must first obtain an annual business license under Chapter 12 and a solid waste permit from the director of environmental services (§§ 10-3, 10-7).