McIntire Recycling Center

What you need to know:

Compostables must be brought in compostable bags (not regular plastic trash bags).  Good news: we have free three gallon compostable bags on site.  You can also find the bags (brand name “Biobags”) at Kroger, Whole Foods, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Additional Information:

• NO YARD WASTE will be accepted.
• NO COMMERCIAL FOOD WASTE or NON-COMPOSTABLES will be accepted.
• Pizza boxes are no longer accepted as part of the food composting program, but they are still able to be recycled.
  • They can be placed in the Corrugated Carboard container.
• Composting at McIntire Recycling Center Informational Flyer
• Questions about acceptable items or how to compost?  Visit our Composting FAQ page
• Learn more about composting from the City of Charlottesville’s Composting Program

Five Star Septic has provided a 300-gallon sealed container, located next to the MRC entrance, where customers can dispose of UCO and grease. Containers that customers use to bring UCO to MRC should be taken home for reuse or disposal. Five Star Septic will collect the container for regular servicing, and the UCO and grease will be recycled for beneficial reuse, such as to manufacture biofuels or to be processed into animal feeds.  This collection will help keep fats, oils, and greases out of the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County Service Authority sewer systems, where they can cause expensive clogs and backups.

Solidified (no longer liquid) fats and greases will continue to be accepted at the MRC, and at the Ivy Convenience Center in the compostable food waste collection containers.  Motor oils and antifreeze are collected for free at the Ivy Convenience Center; they cannot be disposed of in the UCO container or the compostable food waste collection containers.

McIntire Recycling Center is the new home for the collection of oyster shells in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area.  This collection point, which is open to the public as well, will collect oysters from restaurants and homes to be recycled back into oyster habitat in the Chesapeake by the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling and Restoration Program (VOSRP).