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

Sec. 16-172 of the City Code requires any person located in Portsmouth who recycles solid waste to submit an annual report to the director of general operations or the director's designee. The reporting period runs the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, and the report is due no later than 30 days after that period closes. A recycler that handles material both inside and outside the city, and cannot reasonably identify the in-city quantity, may file one consolidated report instead, but it must state that the numbers reflect all of that person's city locations combined.

Each report must include the reporting person's name and address, a contact name and phone number for someone who can answer questions about the report, and the total quantity of solid waste recycled during the period. Sec. 16-173 requires that quantity be measured by weight; where a recycler genuinely cannot weigh the material, the report may use carefully estimated data, but the recycler must flag which figures are estimates. Sec. 16-174 requires the report to be submitted on forms the department of general operations prepares and makes available on request.

Sec. 16-171 defines 'recycle' broadly: selling, donating, or transferring solid waste out of the city so it can be reprocessed into a raw material, or reprocessing it at a location inside the city for the same purpose. Sec. 16-176 lets a recycler withhold proprietary information from a report, but only if the report explains what was withheld and why it is proprietary. Failing to file any report required under this article is a class 1 misdemeanor under Sec. 16-175, with each missed report treated as a separate violation.