The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority is the government entity charged with processing trash and refuse in Albemarle County but also operates a recycling center in Charlottesville on McIntire Road. The Board of Directors last met on May 26 and got an update on recent activity.
There was a sharp increase in the amount of refuse taken to the Ivy Solid Waste and Recycling Center between April 2025 to April 2026.
There was an average volume of 222 tons a day of material processed by the facility in April 2025 and that increased to an average of 279 tons a day the following year. That’s the highest amount for that month in five years.
“We are monitoring that we don’t exceed our permitted capacity of 450 [tons a day],” said Bill Mawyer, the executive director of the RSWA. “There were two days in March and four days in April that we went over 350.”
A total of 7,253.73 tons of municipal solid waste passed through in April 2026. More details here.
On some of those busy days there have been complaints about long wait times to get through the facility. Mawyer said the Ivy center recently went cashless as a way to speed up the process and is studying further ways to streamline payment for services.
The May 26 meeting of the RSWA Board of Directors also provided a chance for Mawyer to give an update on recent amnesty days where people could bring certain items at no charge. The RSWA spent $100,000 on the effort.
- On April 11, 303 Albemarle households took advantage of electronic waste day as did 71 Charlottesville households.
- Hazardous Household Waste was taken on April 17 and April 18. A total of 805 Albemarle households dropped off material as did 192 city households.
- On April 25, people could drop off furniture and mattresses. Albemarle residents provided a total of 33,160 pounds and Charlottesville residents dropped off 6,780 pounds.
Mawyer said the RSWA has set up a place to safely dispose of lithium batteries which can explode if not handled right. The Board of Directors got a briefing on the issue in November 2024 and the Charlottesville Fire Department issued a warning last June.
“It’s not just a regular storage facility and has electricity,” Mawyer said. “It has heating and cooling for the batteries. So we have staff at the Ivy Convenience center. And when a person brings a lithium battery only in we have to process it, take the ends and such and then put them in the pails and then they go in the facility.”
The program cost $90,000 and the service started on May 15 and Mawyer said the RSWA will soon begin to advertise. He expected the spent batteries will be picked up twice a year.
In July, the RSWA will have a groundbreaking for a new baling facility intended to increase capacity for paper and cardboard recycling. The program had a budget of $6.4 million but the actual cost has come in at $5.8 million.
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