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

Section 19-70 sets the ground rules for York County's recycling program, which the county runs through its own collection service and its membership in the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority (VPPSA). Households and qualified small businesses are encouraged, not required, to recycle, and the list of acceptable materials is not fixed in the code itself; it is published by the county or VPPSA through the Waste Management Division and changes with the recyclables market. Customers who receive county collection get one recycling container under Section 19-64(a), separate from their solid waste container, and do not have to sort recyclables placed in it under Section 19-70(b).

Recycling is collected every other week under Section 19-66(b), on a schedule set and announced by the County Administrator, paired as closely as possible with the weekly solid waste pickup. Yard waste is treated differently: it counts toward recycling only if it is bagged and placed in a county-furnished container, per Section 19-70(c); loose limbs and trunks require the separate special collection under Section 19-67. There is no charge for disposing of listed recyclable items at a county disposal facility under Section 19-24(a)(4), and the standard bi-monthly fee for curbside garbage and recycling service is $72.00, or $32.00 for recycling-only service, under the fee schedule in Section 19-73.