[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Mineral effective 1-1-1982 as Ch. 9, Arts. I and II of the 1982 Code; amended in its entirety 11-13-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-02. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Nuisances — See Ch. 293.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 324.
[1]
Editor's Note: For authority of the Town with respect to waste management, see § 15.2-928, Code of Virginia. For state law as to waste management, see § 10.1-1400 et seq., Code of Virginia.
Subject to the provisions of this chapter, refuse shall not be removed from private premises and deposited at any place in the Town except at such place as may be provided by the Town Council.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw or dump into the streets or sidewalks or other public places or grounds, or on private premises without the written consent of the owner thereof or his agent, any ashes, bottles, broken glass, cans, dirt, garbage, grease, newspaper, refuse, rubbish, shavings, tacks, trash or any other articles or substances or things calculated to render the streets unclean, unsightly or unsafe.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place any solid or liquid waste on any street, alley or sidewalk in the Town except when placing such matter in appropriate containers at the normal location at which trash removal by the Town occurs.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place any solid or liquid waste, or to allow any such substances to accumulate, upon his premises or to place such waste on the property of another, except when placing such matter in appropriate containers at the normal location at which trash removal by the Town occurs.
For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section:
ASHES
The residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke or other combustible materials.
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation and consumption of foods.
REFUSE
Includes ashes, garbage and rubbish, as defined in this section.
RUBBISH
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of paper, cardboard, wood, tin cans, glass, yard clippings, bedding, crockery, metals, trash, sweepings, litter and all other similar substances.
A. 
All garbage, ashes or rubbish to be hauled by the Town's collection forces shall be placed in durable nonabsorbent, watertight, easily washable, galvanized metal or plastic containers, which shall have close-fitting covers and handles or bails adequate to facilitate lifting and collection. At the discretion of the collection team, containers deemed too heavy will not be lifted; rather, the bags will be lifted out individually. Any bagged refuse must be within reach of the collection team or it will not be collected.
B. 
All refuse other than large items (See § 367-12, Collection of large items.) shall be placed in securely tied or sealed plastic bags. Bags must be of adequate thickness to contain refuse (generally 0.7 mil for common kitchen trash bags). Securely tied or sealed plastic bags of at least 1.5 mils' thickness may be used in place of containers.
C. 
Any bags that are ripped open prior to the arrival of the collection team, or ripped during collection, will be collected at the discretion of the collection team, and rebagging will be the responsibility of the property owner/tenant.
D. 
At the discretion of the collection team, any garbage deemed uncollectable will not be placed in the truck. Reasons may include, but are not limited to, weight, open bags, unbagged garbage, or existence of dangerous items. Any uncollectable items will be marked with a red tag by the collection team, noting why it is not being picked up, and rebagging and/or waste disposal will be the responsibility of the owner or tenant. If an address collects three red tags during a ninety-day period, the owner will be contacted by the Town Manager and alternative waste collection options, including use of a private waste collection service billed to the owner/tenant, will be explored.
Rubbish and cold ashes set out for collection and disposal by the collection team under the provisions of this article shall be placed in any type of container; provided, however, that the container and contents shall not be too heavy to be easily and quickly loaded. Such containers shall be provided with a cover or other means to prevent scattering of the contents and shall be strong enough to withstand handling in the process of loading the refuse into the removal vehicles of the Town. The collection team will not handle or collect hot ashes.
Covers on all containers for garbage, rubbish and ashes shall be kept in place except when containers are being filled or emptied.
No liquid shall be placed in any container for garbage, rubbish or ashes. All garbage shall be drained and bagged before being placed in storage containers.
A. 
All household refuse to be collected shall be placed in proper containers at the edge of the road, where it can be easily and conveniently reached by the collection team. All refuse must be placed out for collection by 8:00 a.m. on the designated collection day.
B. 
Business establishments may place their refuse containers at the rear or side of the establishment in such a manner that they will be readily accessible to the collection team.
Refuse containers, except when placed out for regular collection, shall be stored not closer to the street than the front building line of the residence or establishment served by the containers, unless enclosed within a fence or trash can corral. Containers shall not be placed at the edge of the road earlier than 12:00 noon on the day prior to collection or remain past 12:00 noon the day following collection.
A. 
Large items include such rubbish as appliances, furniture, building materials, and branches. Leaves or lawn trimmings in excess of five bags are also considered large items for the purposes of this section.
B. 
Large items will not be picked up during the course of regular waste collection. Citizens wishing to have large items removed must contact the Town and request the use of the dump truck. Town staff will leave the dump truck at the requested location for a period of up to 24 hours, and it is the owner/tenant's responsibility to load the large items on the dump truck. Town staff will then take the large items to the county landfill.
Employees of the Town engaged in the collection and disposal of refuse shall not enter any building for the purpose of removing refuse.