Trash & Recycling
Nelson County offers multiple locations for residents to drop off recycling and solid waste. Use of County facilities is limited to persons who either reside in Nelson County or who own real estate property in the County. Patrons should be prepared to show identification as a property owner or resident of Nelson County. All staffed centers are open 6 days a week, 7 am until 7 pm. They are closed on Mondays. They are also closed January 1, July 4, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Sites may be closed on short notice on days when snow or ice create unsafe conditions, or during local power outages.
Nelson County is a member of the Region 2000 Services Authority. The purpose of the update below is twofold. First, the Authority is required to update the regional solid waste plan every five years and ours is due to be updated this year; second, the plan must be updated to reflect the increase in landfill capacity due to the lateral expansion currently moving through the DEQ permitting process. Click Here for Lateral Expansion Information.
Region 2000 Services Authority Regional Solid Waste Plan Update and Amendment
Where To Take Your Trash
Staffed Collection Centers: Recycling & Garbage
Open 7am to 7pm | Tuesday – Sunday
FABER CENTER
366 Cove Valley Lane
Faber, VA 22938
434-263-4929
MASSIES MILL CENTER
921 Tan Yard Rd
Roseland, VA 22974
434-277-5718
ROCKFISH CENTER
136 Rockfish School Ln
Afton, VA 22920
434-361-2301
SHIPMAN CENTER
11535 James River Rd
Shipman, VA 22971
434-263-4798
Unstaffed Collection Centers
| MONTEBELLO CENTER Recycling and Garbage 1 Fish Hatchery Ln Montebello, VA 24464 |
7am to 7pm Tuesdays -Sundays |
Unstaffed Collection Centers: Garbage (No Recycling)
| GLADSTONE CENTER 6183 Richmond Hwy Gladstone, VA 24553 |
Daylight Hours Only Tuesdays -Sundays |
| WINTERGARDEN CENTER 3366 Wintergreen Drive Roseland, VA 22935 |
Open 24/7 Garbage Only |
Recyclable Items
Corrugated Cardboard | Mixed Paper | Metal Food Cans | Plastic Containers
Re-Use Shed
Re-use sheds are intended to keep usable items out of the waste stream. Large and broken items are not appropriate. At the staffed sites, please speak with an attendant before leaving items in the shed.
GUIDELINES FOR THE RE-USE SHED
Reduce, Re-use, & Recycle- the three R’s of Waste Management- should be practiced in that order. Reducing consumption of unnecessary items happens at home, but you can take Re-use and Recycle items to one of the County’s Collection Centers.
- Speak with an attendant before you place items in the Shed. Attendants know what can and cannot be put into the Shed.
- No more than three items may be deposited per visit. This avoids someone cleaning out a house and filling up the Shed with Junk. If you’re moving, list your items on the “Offered” bulletin board. Likewise, you may only TAKE three items at a time.
- One visit per person per day and no loitering. The attendant may require anyone who hangs around the shed for more than 10 minutes or who becomes a nuisance with too many visits in one day to leave.
- No paint in the Re-use Shed- it could leak and cause problems for everyone? If you have good paint to donate, put your number on the “Offered” bulletin board and list the type of paint. Feel free to use the Collection Center as a place to meet anyone who calls you. But you may not leave paint on the site.
- No items so broken as to be useless.
- No Freon appliances- refrigerators, freezers, Dehumidifiers, or air conditioners.3
- No items with big pieces of glass that can break.
- No food.
- No mattresses or stuffed furniture unless in excellent condition.
- Clothing must be clean and folded. You can also donate good clothing to a local thrift shop or put into the metal clothing container.
- First come, first serve. Attendants will not reserve anything for anyone.
“Offered & Wanted” Bulletin Boards
There are 2 bulletin boards in the Re-use Shed. If you are looking for a particular item, place a notice on the “Wanted” board. If you have an item to give away that does not meet guidelines for the Re-use Shed (such as paint) place a notice on the “Offered” board. Bulletin boards are for free items only. If you want to sell an item, you’ll have to advertise elsewhere.
Remember that when you leave something in the Re-use Shed, you are getting RID OF IT!!
Some items may end up in yard sales. Need more information? Call 434-263-7098
THIS SITE DOES NOT ACCEPT
- Out of County waste
- Commercial refuse. Go to the Transfer Station
- Tires, large auto parts. Go to the Transfer Station.
- Auto Batteries. Take to auto supply dealers.
- Manure, dead animals, or carcass parts. Bury these. Others have to use the site after you!
- Hazardous waste. For info on household and commercial hazardous waste call 263-7098.
- Medical Waste. Residential medications or sharps used for insulin must be sealed in a hard plastic container (such as bleach bottles; do not use milk jugs). Tape the lid shut and tell an attendant before you place it in a trash compactor.
- Construction debris and lumber. Small amounts (one garbage can or armload) are acceptable, but if you arrive with a truck load, you WILL be sent to the Transfer Station.
- Items too large to fit into compactor. Go to the Transfer Station with large carpets, couches, mattresses, recliner chairs. Large BBQ grills, washing machines, dryers, stoves, etc. There is no tipping fee for metal appliances (they are recycled) or household trash.
- Freon appliances. No Freon appliances of any type- refrigerators, air conditioners, freezers, dehumidifiers – can be left on site, even if they have no Freon left. Take them to the Transfer Station, where qualified employees can drain any and all chemicals before disposal or recycling.
- Really Big Loads. Attendants are on the look-out for people hauling trash as a business to Collection Centers. Loads higher than the sides of a pick-up truck or arriving too often maybe subject to inspection. Big loads fill compactors before they are scheduled to be replaced with empties, and may be sent to the Transfer Station, where there is no charge for household trash.
- Liquids (oil, antifreeze, paint, bleach-also food liquids like juice & milk). No one wants to step in puddles beside the compactor! Think of the next person in line! For info on paint disposal, call 434-263-7098 or speak to an attendant. You cannot put paintin the Re-use Shed, but you can advertise good paint on the bulletin board in the Shed.
- Yard waste (leaves, limbs, grass, straw, soil). Small amounts (one garbage can or armload) are acceptable, but large volumes of vegetative waste WILL be sent to the Transfer Station. Rather than waste this valuable resource that can be turned into fertilizer, try starting a home compost pile. Brush piles are another good way to handle yard waste. Such piles make safe havens for birds.
- Hot solid waste such as fire ashes. Yes, compactors DO catch on fire from hot ashes!
- Propane tanks or other explosive items. Take propane tanks to a store that can refill and recycle them. Tanks can pose a serious hazard to employees at the Transfer Station.
- Collection sites are for “household” garbage, not farm waste. Do not put metal fencing into a recycle can. The recycling facilities we use do not accept wire.
Transfer Station: From Lovingston, go south on US 29 to Rt. 748, or Morse Lane. (Look for small green sign on the right-hand side of US 29 that reads “Landfill”). Do a U-turn to head back north on US 29, and take the first right. Proceed one mile to end of road. Open M-F 8 AM TO 3:30 PM and Saturday 8 AM TO 11:45 AM. Phone 434-263-7097. Commercial and non-household waste: $55/ton. Call for current tire fees.
RECYCLING GUIDELINES
Every effort is made to provide recycling services that are affordable, efficient, and effective.
For more information, call Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator at 263-7098.
Plastic Bags:
In Nelson County, the ONLY place to recycle plastic bags in Food Lion. If you carry your recyclables to the County Collection Centers in a plastic bag, please discard the bag into the garbage when you are through using the bag.
Corrugated Cardboard: Maroon Compactor
Corrugated cardboard has a “ZIG-ZAG” layer between two outer smooth layers. At the staffed sites (Rockfish, Shipman, Massies Mill, & Faber) maroon colored compactors flatten boxes for you. Remove Styrofoam & plastic bag inserts and discard these items with your garbage. Do NOT put smooth cardboard such as beer and soda cartons into the cardboard compactor-those items should be put in the green-colored paper recycling container.
Paper
Can you tear it? Plastic doesn’t tear. You can recycle items such as newspaper, cereal boxes, phone books, paperback books (no hardbacks), junk mail, & paper feed bags as long as they do not have plastic liners. NOTE: There are no cardboard compactors at Montebello and Wintergreen- at these sites, you must flatten your cardboard boxes and put them into the green colored paper recycle container. Cardboard has a higher value than paper, but it is not a practical to provide cardboard compactors at unstaffed sites.
Metal Cans
Aluminum, tin, steel, or bi-metal cans can be recycled. Make sure cans are empty and lightly rinsed. No paint cans or aerosol cans, please!
……and a note about Glass
The closest facility to Nelson that recycles glass is near Virginia Beach. Shipping bottles to that facility would be prohibitive in cost and would produce more greenhouse gases than landfilling them locally. Glass is basically melted sand and is inert- it does not break down and pollute air or water. Nelson will continue to research ways to collect glass for re-use or recycling, but any option must be economically and environmentally viable and sustainable.
Thank you for recycling!!
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Days
Collection days for Household Hazardous Waste are held several times each year. Participation is free for Nelson residents and landowners who obtain a voucher from the Nelson Solid Waste & Recycling Office, tel. 434-263-7098 or . Vouchers are also available at all staffed collection centers. Please contact the Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator (434) 263-7098 to receive a voucher for this event. The Ivy Materials Utilization Center is located at 4576 Dick Woods Road in Charlottesville.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center will be held 9am-2pm on:
- SPRING 2023
- Friday, April 21, 2023
- Saturday, April 22, 2023
- FALL 2023
- Friday, September 22, 2023
- Saturday, September 23, 2023
Car Donations
Wheels for Wishes
Donate used cars, trucks, SUVs, boats, motorcycles, RV’s, or motorhomes. Proceeds go to Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia.
Goodwill Car Donation
When you donate your old vehicle, you essentially enable Goodwill to provide vital job training, life skills, and employment prospects to hundreds of thousands of needy individuals. What, to you, might just be an old beater that you haven’t had time to deal with, to someone else, could make all the difference in being able to start a new life.
Vehicles for Veterans
Your car donation helps benefit disabled veterans throughout the United States. The proceeds from your donation help to fund programs that provide services offered to veterans in need of assistance and support.
Kars 4 Kids
Your car donation supports the youth and educational programs of national nonprofit Kars4Kids and their sister charity Oorah.
Breast Cancer Car Donations
Breast Cancer Car Donations supports well-known nonprofit organizations that are battling breast cancer. Our vehicle donation program is operated on their behalf, providing additional funding so they can focus on their life-saving missions — raising funds for the prevention, screening and diagnosis, treatment and/or cure of breast cancer — rather than on managing car donations.
