This special awards program is designed to recognize Fairfax County businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations that are implementing innovative programs in waste reduction, recycling and reuse. Any Fairfax County business, school or nonprofit is eligible to apply. All waste reduction, recycling, and/or reuse efforts carried out between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 1, 2009, are eligible for consideration. Deadline for submittal of application materials is March 13, 2009. Applications sent in by mail must be postmarked by March 13, 2009.
Printable
Application (PDF)
Online Application*
*If your application is lengthy, you may have difficulty submitting it online. If this occurs, fax your application to 703-324-3949, attention: Business Recycling Awards. For more information, call 703-324-5230, TTY 711.
Award Categories
- Small businesses and nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations
- Businesses with 51 or more employees
- Elementary schools
- Middle schools
- High schools
- Property managers
Judging Criteria
- The total amount of trash diverted from the waste stream through recycling, waste reduction and/or reuse efforts
- Positive impact on and benefit to Fairfax County’s environment
- Level of employee participation
- Innovation and creativity of the program
Award Recipients
2008 winners:
- Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc. – This business occupies a five-building campus in McLean which is operated by Gates Hudson & Associates and Cassidy Pinckard Colliers. Since 2005, Booz, Allen & Hamilton has expanded their recycling program from paper to include cans and bottles, printer cartridges, fluorescent lamps and ballast as well as rechargeable batteries. During 2007, they recycled approximately 522 tons of materials resulting in a 28 percent recycling rate.
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- Freddie Mac Corporation – The Freddie Mac Corporation started their recycling program by collecting paper. It has been expanded to include fluorescent lamps, toner cartridges, cans, bottles, batteries, light ballast and carpeting. Recently, the company hosted an "E-Waste at Work Day” for employees to recycle electronics brought in from home. Freddie Mac focuses on making their purchases green, including: "to go" food containers made of biodegradable materials, desk chairs and floor mats that contain recycled materials, outdoor benches made of 100 percent recycled materials and paper with recycled content. In addition, the company has set all of their copiers to do double-sided copying only. In 2007, Freddie Mac recycled 457 tons of material resulting in cost savings of almost $23,000. They have reduced their carbon footprint by almost 12,000 tons per year.
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- MITRE Corporation – MITRE has a long established recycling program. In 2007 the company recycled or reused about 238 tons of material. This represents an 8 percent increase over the previous year. MITRE has expanded their recycling program to focus on recycling or reusing electronic equipment, office furniture and carpeting. These materials were donated to churches and other non-profit organizations to support their efforts. MITRE’s maintenance contractor uses HEPA filters as well as all “Green Seal” certified cleaning products to reduce toxicity levels. MITRE purchases paper products with 100 percent recycled content and supports recycling with an aggressive outreach program for employees. The company also supports telecommuting, carpooling and ridesharing to further reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
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- Noblis, Inc. – Noblis recycled about 34 tons of material at their Falls Church property in 2007. Major initiatives included computer recycling and shredding and recycling corporate documents. Noblis employs a landscaping service that recycles all of the grass, leaves and brush collected during grounds maintenance. The company also purchases paper and other products that contain recycled content. With the recycling program in place, Noblis reduced the amount of trash it produced in 2007 by 32 percent.
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- Peterson Management, LLC – Recycling programs were established at Peterson properties years ahead of the county's mandates. A key to their success has been a proactive educational campaign. In their office properties, Peterson has created displays to communicate with tenants about what can be recycled and how. For their residential properties, Peterson Management delivers recycling information directly to tenants. These efforts have resulted in recycling over 61 tons of waste and reducing their carbon footprint by about 200 tons. Peterson Management, a major sponsor of the recent Springfest event at Fair Lakes shopping center, provided electronics recycling and paper shredding service to community residents.
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- Raytheon Company – Raytheon has committed to reducing waste throughout the organization by dedicating significant staff efforts to achieve this goal. In 2007, Raytheon recycled 53 percent of its waste and saved about $33,000 in disposal costs. Raytheon uses the Safety Star program to reward employees actively participating in environmental improvement practices on site. The company continues to find new materials to recycle. The Facilities Management Department and the Supply Chain Department are active partners in recycling by ensuring that everything from scrap metal to electronics and printer cartridges are recycled.
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- Reico Kitchen and Baths – This company donates excess inventory to charitable organizations such as the Loading Dock in Baltimore and Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in Manassas. At these locations, products are sold at a reduced cost. The value of Reico’s donations to these programs equates to about $237 million. When a Reico customer purchases a new appliance, the old appliances are recycled. All of Reico’s delivery trucks are equipped with GPS units resulting in delivery rate with 99.9 percent accuracy, significantly reducing fuel usage and Reico’s carbon footprint. Reico also uses “virtual meeting” technology to further reduce the need to drive and therefore, more fuel is saved and less pollution is produced. All of Reico’s stores recycle paper and cardboard as well as cans and bottles.
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- Science Applications International Corporation, Inc. – This company actively recycles paper and cardboard, cans and bottles, electronics, fluorescent lamps and rechargeable batteries. All of their offices provide paper recycling bins to encourage employee participation. Containers for other materials are placed in strategic locations like kitchenettes and conference rooms. They train their vendors to recognize recyclable materials and to cooperate with the company's recycling mandate. In 2007, over 380 tons of materials were recycled by Science Applications International, Inc.
2007 winners: MITRE Corporation, Noblis, Raytheon, Science Applications International Corporation.
2006 winners: Congressional Schools of Virginia, Greenspring Village, Inova Fairfax Hospital, MITRE Corporation, Mitretek, Raytheon, Science Applications International Corporation, Tyson’s Corner International, Washington Gas.
2005 winners: Fort Belvoir, Mitretek, The Peterson Group, Raytheon.
2004 winners: Raytheon, Greenspring Village and Science Applications International Corporation.
2003 winners: ICF, National Wildlife Federation, Raytheon and Tyson's Corner Center.