Mandatory Recycling of Mixed Paper and Cardboard Begins July 10

Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 551
Fairfax, VA 22035-0065
Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director of Public Affairs
703-324-3187, TTY 711, Fax 703-324-2010
Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
publicaffairs@fairfaxcounty.gov

June 26, 2007

Mandatory Recycling of Mixed Paper and Cardboard Begins July 10

All Fairfax County’s residential and non-residential properties (including schools, businesses and institutions) will be required to recycle mixed paper and cardboard beginning July 10.

The new recycling ordinance was adopted by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on July 10, 2006. Fairfax County residents and businesses have already increased mixed paper recycling since 2006 by 11.5 percent – for a total of 193,098 tons of paper recycled. Currently, the Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program manages more than 1.5 million tons of municipal solid waste and recyclables annually. The county is projected to handle an additional 139,000 to 500,000 tons of waste per year by 2025.

“In preparing the county’s 20-year Solid Waste Management Plan, our solid waste stream projections indicated a clear and significant need to find ways to reduce our waste stream and to preserve our disposal capacity for materials that are not readily recyclable,?? said Jeffrey M. Smithberger, director of the Division of Solid Waste Collection and Recycling. “Due to the abundance of, demand for, and the value of mixed paper and cardboard in our local recyclables market, these materials presented the best opportunity for increasing our recycling efforts on a countywide level.??

The responsibility to establish a recycling program on both residential and non-residential properties rests with each property owner. Staff members from the Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program are available to assist property owners in becoming compliant with the new requirements. Recycling requirement guides have been prepared to assist non-residential and multi-family residential property owners.

More information is available online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/recycling.

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