Hanover County, VA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 18-17 of the Hanover County Code, 'Restrictions on disposal of solid waste and use of facilities,' governs recycling as part of the county's broader solid waste disposal rules. Subsection (a) bars anyone from disposing of solid waste, including recyclables, that was generated or collected outside Hanover County at any county solid waste disposal facility, with one exception: residents of jurisdictions inside the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) service area may use the recycling containers at Hanover's facilities, because the county participates in a CVWMA recycling contract covering those containers.

1, limits access to county residents who can document their residency. Subsection (g) separately makes it unlawful to engage in scavenging, meaning removing material, including recyclables, from a solid waste disposal facility without permission, so items placed in a county recycling container may not be picked back out by the public. Recycling containers themselves sit at the county's convenience centers, defined in Section 18-4 as facilities operated for county residents for disposal of household waste, and the director of public works administers the CVWMA contract and the facility regulations under Section 18-19.

A violation of Section 18-17, including bringing in out-of-county recyclables or scavenging from a recycling container, is a class 2 misdemeanor under Section 18-15, with each day of a continuing violation treated as a separate offense.