Trash, Recycling and Bulk Pickup in the Richmond Area: How the City, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover Handle It

Published October 13, 2026

Where your trash goes depends on which side of a county line your house sits on. In the City of Richmond, city crews collect it. In Chesterfield, the county says the service comes from private companies. Henrico runs its own crews for regular trash but sends bulky items to a contractor, and Hanover’s county pages are built around drop-off centers. This guide reports what each locality’s own pages say, as read in October 2026, and marks where a page was silent. Rules and fees change, so check the source before you plan around a number.

City of Richmond: city crews, city-issued cans

The Department of Public Works says it collects and disposes of solid waste on 90 routes serving 65,000 residences and small businesses. Residential trash is collected once a week, Monday through Thursday, and it has to go in a city-issued can. The city provides one green supercan per residence, and up to three more brown cans can be bought for $55 each, billed to the water utility account in your name. Cans that do not carry a city serial number are not serviced. Set the can out after 4 p.m. the day before collection and bring it in by 7 a.m. the day after, or the city may assess a $50 fine.

The same page points residents to their address lookup for the trash day and recycling day, and sends recycling questions to the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority. If you are buying a home in the City of Richmond, the supercan and the water account are the two items to settle at move-in. The city also runs a Back Door Service for eligible elderly or disabled residents, approved case by case, where crews empty one supercan from a more convenient spot.

Bulk and brush in the city: every other week, on your recycling week

Richmond’s Bulk and Brush page describes collection every other week year-round, on your normal trash day during your recycling week. Put items out beside your cans the night before. If the crew misses them, it is supposed to return by Saturday of that week, and after a second recycling week the page says to contact 3-1-1. Prohibited items include construction debris, tires, carpet, auto parts, bricks, drywall, paint, gas and propane tanks, and lawn mowers.

A 24-hour request costs $100 and is payable only by check or money order, and appliance pickup costs $50 each. Residents who prefer to haul items themselves can use the two drop-off sites listed in the FAQ below. Leaf season has its own rules, covered in our guide to Richmond leaf collection.

Henrico: county crews for trash, a contractor for bulky items

Henrico’s bulky waste page says the county focused its collection resources on regular curbside trash and no longer provides bulky pickup itself. Any Henrico County resident can book it through TurboHaul, Inc., a private company, which bills the customer directly. Qualifying items include furniture, household appliances such as refrigerators and washers, bagged leaves and clippings, and vegetative waste up to 4 feet long and 4 inches thick.

That makes Henrico a split system, and it is worth learning which service you are dealing with before you call. Your regular trash question goes to the county. A sofa left at the curb is a TurboHaul order, and a pile that does not fit the standard size will not be collected at the base rate. Booking is online through the contractor’s site or by phone or text at (804) 294-4443, and Real Estate Advantage Program participants are told to use the county number instead. The fee schedule is in the FAQ below.

Chesterfield: private haulers are the model

The county’s Waste and Resource Recovery Division page states that residential trash and recycling service in Chesterfield County is provided by private waste management companies operating in the area. The county does not name them there. What the county does run are two convenience centers, the Northern Area and Southern Area centers, open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus seven community recycling centers at county parks. The division also oversees debris management during severe weather, although the page does not explain how that works. It also lists free mulch for residents and a household hazardous waste, shred and e-cycling event on Saturday, November 14, 2026.

For a buyer, the practical point is that no county bill sets your service. You choose a hauler, or the neighborhood already has one, so ask the seller who serves the street and what it costs.

Hanover: drop-off centers on the county’s pages

Hanover’s residential trash center page lists six sites: Courthouse, Beaverdam, Doswell, Elmont, Mechanicsville and Montpelier. They are open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at no cost for residential drop-off, closed on a list of holidays, and they take household trash, bulky items and recyclables, along with oil, antifreeze and clothing. Renovation waste is accepted only if it fits in a container or bag of up to 55 gallons; loose debris goes to the Route 301 Transfer Station for a fee. The Hanover County page does not say whether homes also have curbside trash collection or which private haulers serve them, so this guide does not state it either way.

Yard waste compared

Yard debris is where the systems differ most. Richmond handles brush through its bulk program and leaves through a separate seasonal program. Henrico’s contractor takes bagged leaves and short vegetative waste. Chesterfield lists free mulch rather than curbside yard collection. Hanover’s page shows grass and leaves accepted at Courthouse, Elmont and Mechanicsville, with brush only at Mechanicsville, up to 4 inches thick and 6 feet long.

The four systems side by side

Put simply: Richmond is city crews and city-issued cans on a weekly route, with bulk every other week. Henrico is county crews for regular trash and a contractor for bulky items. Chesterfield is private haulers by design, with county drop-off sites as a backstop. Hanover’s pages describe drop-off centers and are silent on curbside trash. Two homes ten miles apart can therefore mean a city can, a contractor booking, a hauler contract or a weekend drive to a center, and each one changes your monthly routine and your move-in to-do list.

What to settle before closing

Ask the seller four things: who collects the trash, what it costs and who bills you, who owns the carts, and where the nearest drop-off site is. Then add the answers to the list in our first 30 days after closing guide. If you are still searching, the property search lets you filter by the county you have decided to shop in.

Frequently asked questions