Charlottesville, VA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Two companion sections of the curbside recycling article set the ground rules for the bins themselves. Section 26-47 keeps title to every recycling container with the city or its agent even after delivery to a household, so a customer who moves out must leave the container behind for the next occupant rather than take it along. Section 26-48 goes further on the materials inside: once a customer places recyclables in the container at the curb, title to that material vests in the city or its designated agent, and 'no person shall remove, take, collect or transport' recyclables from a curbside, street right-of-way, alley or other designated collection point without the city's express authority, a rule aimed squarely at scavengers who pick through bins before the truck arrives.

Section 26-49 protects the container's function: no one may use a recycling container for anything other than the curbside recycling program, no one may put garbage or other refuse into it, and it is unlawful to borrow, steal, damage or otherwise remove a recycling container from program use. The Director of Public Works can issue additional recycling regulations under § 26-50 to supplement these three sections. Because §§ 26-47 through 26-49 are part of Chapter 26, a violation of any of them, scavenging recyclables, dumping trash in a recycling bin, or stealing a bin, carries the same Class 1 misdemeanor exposure under § 26-2 as illegal dumping.