FAQ

To determine if you are eligible for CVWMA’s curbside recycling program, enter your address in our customer self-service tool. If it shows in our database, you are eligible for service. If you can’t find your address and your home is new construction, contact CVWMA at 804-340-0900 to see if you can be added to the program.

CVWMA drop-off recycling sites provide convenient recycling opportunities to homes not included in the curbside collection program.  The same material is collected in this program as in the curbside program. For more information about the drop-off recycling program, click here.

To see if you are eligible for curbside recycling, enter your address in our customer self-service tool. If it shows in our database, you are eligible for service. If you can’t find your address and your home is new construction, contact CVWMA at 804-340-0900 to see if you can be added to the program. If you are moving from a home that has curbside recycling collection, please leave your CVWMA container at your old house.  The container belongs to the home, not to you.

If you are in the Town of Ashland or the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg or Richmond:

Eligible homes are provided one 95-gallon recycling cart on wheels. To order a second cart, use the CVWMA self-service tool.

In Goochland, Hanover and Henrico counties:

Eligible homes may use a personal container such as a plastic tote, cardboard box or paper bags until June 30, 2023. Recyclers in these counties will receive a 95-gallon CVWMA recycling cart in the spring of 2023. The cart is the only container that will be collected at the curb beginning July 1.

Request stickers through the self-service tool to identify your personal container as recycling.

In Chesterfield County:

Residents who are opted into the curbside recycling program may use a personal container such as a plastic tote, cardboard box or paper bags until June 30, 2023. After that date, Chesterfield County will not participate in CVWMA’s curbside recycling program.

Request stickers through the self-service tool to identify your personal container as recycling.

Call CVWMA Customer Service at 804-340-0900 to discuss the options for recycling containers. A representative can help you request a container depending on where you live.

Yes. Empty and rinse to recycle. This prevents your recyclables from smelling or attracting rodents and insects.  Rinsing also maintains the value of the recyclable material.

Additional carts  

Report your broken or damaged cart through our self-service tool or call CVWMA at 804-340-0900 for assistance.

All homes eligible for residential (curbside) recycling service receive our annual mailing of the CVWMA  Recycling Collection Schedule in January.  This generally prompts many non-recyclers who want to begin recycling to call us.

If your community publishes a newsletter or holds community meetings, contact CVWMA Public Information staff to inquire how we may be of assistance.  We can supply an article for your newsletter or give a presentation on the benefits of recycling.

Residential (Curbside) recycling collection through the CVWMA program is only available to residences at this time. To coordinate recycling service to your school/university or business, you will need to contact a private company. Types of materials accepted vary by company. You may wish to contact several companies to determine the best service for your needs.

Residential (Curbside) service is generally provided to single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and quadraplexes. Townhome complexes are considered private property, so permission must be granted by the association before our Recycling Contractors can authorize their drivers enter parking lots. The size and layout of the parking lots can also make collection difficult for the drivers and access by recycling trucks. Parked cars in front of homes decreases ability of the drivers to see containers for collection.

CVWMA accepts the following items at this time in its residential (aka curbside) recycling program. Accepted items include aluminum and steel cans, food and beverage cartons (empty, rinse and replace cap), glass bottles and jars (no metal lids or caps, no plastic caps attached to glass jars), office paper, mixed paper, newspaper, magazines, flattened cardboard, and kitchen, laundry, and bath plastics bottles, jugs and tubs (empty, rinse, and replace plastic cap to recycle).

No. CVWMA does not accept shredded paper. The paper shreds clog the machinery at the material recovery facility (or MRF) that processes recyclable materials in Chester, contaminates the glass processing and ends up as litter inside the MRF.   Consider contacting a local animal shelter to see if they can use, composting it, or participate in a local document shredding event.

We do not  accept plastic bags, Styrofoam carryout packaging or packing materials, or food contaminated  items such as greasy pizza boxes. Plastic bags can be recycled at local grocery and retail stores.

For more information about recycling or reusing items not accepted in the residential (curbside) or drop-off programs, please visit our online Recycling Wizard.

Look up your collection day by entering your address in our self-service tool. 

On certain holidays observed by local, state, and federal offices the CVWMA curbside recycling and trash collection programs may be delayed one day for the remainder of the week. See the holiday collection calendar.

Look up your address in our self-service tool, then click “Request/Remove Email Notification.”

Collection takes place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. If yours hasn’t been collected on your day by 7 p.m., leave your container at the curb. Report the missed collection within two business days through our self-service tool, or by calling 804-340-0900 between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on business days.