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Trash & Recycling Collection Guidelines for Sanitary Districts

Your Basic Service  |  Disposal Don'ts  |  Recycling  |  Special Collections  |  Special Services  |  Numbers to Know  |  Disposal Facilities

Your Basic Service:

Your base service fee of $345.00 covers once-a-week collection of trash and recyclables and up to five special collections from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. This fee is included as a separate line item on your real estate tax bill. Additional fees may apply for special services such as MegaBulk.

County Code requires household trash and recyclables to be collected weekly. To ensure collection, please have it at the curb or street line by 6 a.m. on your collection day. The Code also requires that household waste be stored in a watertight, insect-proof container equipped with a tight-fitting lid. Household waste in closed plastic bags may be set out for collection for a period of not more than 12 hours.

Carts & Bins: All customers are provided with one 96-gallon wheeled container for trash and a 64-gallon recycling cart or, for townhouses, two bins for recycling. Carts provided by the county should not be loaded to more than 100 lbs. Personal trash containers and plastic bags must not weigh more than 50 lbs. each when full. Fairfax County is not responsible for damage to or loss of personal trash containers.

Accessibility: Customers living along private roadways must ensure a hard, packed surface free of potholes and obstructions with a minimum width of 12 feet and cleared of overhead vegetation up to 13 feet above the roadway. Customers living on pipestems must set materials out at the public right-of-way to ensure pickup.  Do not place your trash containers in drainage ditches.

Holiday Schedule: Regular trash, recycling, brush and bulk collection services are provided on all holidays except Christmas Day. The Customer Service Center is closed in observance of all county holidays.

Severe Weather/Emergency: In the interest of safety, trash and recycling collection may be suspended in severe weather or in emergency situations. For emergency and severe weather status updates, call 703-802-3322, TTY 711.

Disposal Don’ts:

In order to maintain our equipment, protect our employees from health and safety risks, and dispose of waste in accordance with environmental best practices and regulations, there are several items which cannot be disposed of through our normal curbside collection service. Unless otherwise indicated, these materials can be disposed of at either the I-66 Transfer Station or the I-95 Landfill Complex.

Animal Waste & Remains: Large amounts of animal waste will not be collected. Small amounts are acceptable if double bagged. Very small animal remains (mice, birds, etc.) are acceptable if double bagged. Larger animals may be buried. To report a dead animal found along the roadway, please call VDOT at 1-800-F0R-ROAD (367-7623), TTY 711.

Construction Debris: Drywall & similar materials, shingles, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, wall tiles, asbestos, dirt & sod, sand, stones, rocks, bricks, concrete, asphalt, railroad ties.

Oversized Brush: Stumps, root balls, whole trees and/or brush longer than 6 feet in length and greater than 6 inches in diameter will not be collected as a part of normal collection service.

Tires: No more than four automobile tires per collection day. Rims must be removed. Larger quantities and repeat set-outs will not be collected. No truck tires.

Explosives: Live ammunition or weapons will not be collected (contact your Police Department for disposal instructions).

Propane, Oxygen, Helium and any other tank containing flammable or explosive gas will not be collected.

Gas-powered lawn equipment containing gas or oil will not be collected. These items can be collected as a special collection (see Special Collections, below) once the gas and oil are removed.

Large Glass Items & Sharps: Glass windows, sliding doors, glass sheets and mirrors will not be collected at the curb. Broken glass and sharp objects will be collected if they are carefully packaged and sealed in a rigid container - such as a liquid detergent bottle (needles must go in rigid bottles) or cardboard box. Clearly label the container “SHARPS.”

Household Hazardous Waste: Household hazardous waste materials will not be collected. These materials may be taken to the household hazardous waste disposal site at the I-95 Landfill Complex or the I-66 Transfer Station.

Commercial Waste: Waste from commercial businesses will not be collected.

Recycling:

Recycling is collected once a week on the same day as trash. Fairfax County utilizes a “single stream” method of collecting recyclables. We collect all recyclables together and deliver them to a facility capable of properly separating and processing the different types of recyclables (metal, plastics, paper, glass, and cardboard).

Image of materials collected as a single-stream.

Yard Waste: Yard waste is recycled in Fairfax County each year from March 1 through Dec. 24. To be collected, yard waste must be placed at the curb in a separate container or tied in bundles no longer than 4 feet. Containers and bundles should not weigh more than 50 pounds.

Additionally, natural Christmas trees will be collected during the first two weeks of January each year for recycling. Lights, decorations and stands must be removed to ensure collection.

Special Collections:

Special collections are for collecting household items that are too large to collect with a standard garbage truck. Your base service includes five special collections per fiscal year (July 1 - June 30). You must schedule special collections for all oversized items and piles. To schedule a special collection, contact the Customer Service Center at 703-802-3322, TTY 711 or schedule your collection online.

To qualify for a special collection, piles are limited to 12 cubic yards of material (a pile about 5 feet x 6 feet x 10 feet). Piles of heavy/dense materials are limited to 6 cubic yards. Larger piles and multiple piles will be charged an additional fee through the MegaBulk program (see below).

We cannot accept large logs or branches, root balls and stumps resulting from the removal of whole trees under the base service fee. These must be collected via the MegaBulk Program or you may select another contractor.

Set Out Instructions:
• Separate metal items, appliances, furniture and large piles of brush. Do not mix lumber with brush.
• Do not put normal trash with your special collection materials.
• Special collection items must be placed within 6 feet of the curb/street line by 6 a.m. on the scheduled collection day.
• Place items in the open, well away from parked vehicles, low hanging tree limbs or wires (minimum of 20 feet clearance on either side and overhead is required).
• Do not obstruct manhole covers, fire hydrants, storm drains, ditches, sidewalks or streets.
• Materials set out for collection for more than one week may not exceed the Zoning Ordinance outdoor storage size limitation of 100 square feet.
• All smaller items included for collection must be properly bagged.

Special Services:

The following services are offered by Fairfax County, but are not included in your base service fee.

Leaf Collection: Fairfax County provides seasonal vacuum leaf collection for approximately half of our collection customers who pay an additional fee to receive this service.

Leaf collection typically takes place between Oct. 31 and Jan. 31. To be collected, leaves must be raked to the curb - clear of storm drains and kept away from cars or other obstacles. Collection times will be advertised on roadside signs, on our website and via email to customers. Subscribe to receive email alerts and notifications (Solid Waste email lists are included under “Public Works & Utilities.”)

MegaBulk: The MegaBulk Program is designed to help customers remove whole trees and very large loads of waste from their properties - including construction and demolition waste. We will provide you with a written MegaBulk cost estimate, valid for 10 days, based upon items at the curb. Set out must follow the special collections set-out instructions. The minimum charge for a MegaBulk collection is $60, but prices will vary depending on the volume of material.

At that point, you are responsible for removing the material within 10 days either with the MegaBulk Program, another contractor or by self-hauling the waste. Failure to do so may result in Fairfax County removing the materials at your risk and expense. The minimum cost for county removal of abandoned materials is $250 plus actual labor, equipment and disposal costs.

Household Hazardous Waste Disposal:  This program is a free service for county residents. Both the I-66 Transfer Station and the I-95 Landfill Complex have permanent sites for the disposal of household hazardous waste (see material list below).

For facility locations and hours, call 703-324-5068, TTY 711 or go to the Recycling Website.

Special Services:

To request this information in an alternate format, call the Solid Waste Management Program at 703-324-5230, TTY 711.

Numbers to Know:

Customer Service Information Line: 703-802-3322, TTY 711
Staffed Monday thru Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Closed on county holidays.

Recycling InfoLine: 703-324-5052

Household Hazardous Waste InfoLine: 703-324-5068

Website
Email

Subscribe to receive email newsletters/notifications.
(Solid Waste email lists are included under “Public Works & Utilities”)

Disposal Facilities:

I-66 Transfer Station
4618 West Ox Road
Fairfax, Virginia
703-631-1179, TTY 711

I-95 Landfill Complex
9850 Furnace Road
Lorton, Virginia
703-690-1703, TTY 711