Public Works and Environmental Services

CONTACT INFORMATION: Our office is open 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Mon. - Fri.
703-324-5230 TTY 711
12000 Government Center Parkway
Suite 458, Fairfax, Va 22035
Eric Forbes
Director, Solid Waste Management

Four Touch Points Initiative

Purpose

Licensed waste collectors and the County work together to provide a service that is critical to maintaining good public health and welfare, and the protection of our environment. An integral part of that mission is cooperation and collaboration from the county’s residents and businesses to reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal. Fairfax County’s recycling rate has been hovering at around 50% for 15 years. Participation rates are similarly flat. Surveys have shown that the top reason for this is that residents who don’t recycle say they don’t know what can and can’t be recycled. The purpose of the Four Touch Points Initiative (4TP for short) is to engage the collections industry in reaching out to residents with uniform and contemporary information on how to reduce waste and increase recycling.


4TP Requirements

4TP requires permitted CTO collectors to share waste reduction and/or recycling information (a “touch point”) with their residential customers at least four times per year (hence 4TP). Participation in 4TP will be considered for approval of a CTO application.

Collectors can generate their own touch points (content) to share with customers or can choose to distribute content made available by SWMP. Self-generated touch points must be reviewed and approved by SWMP prior to distribution. Should a collector wish to use county content and need a copy, contact us at: DPWES-SMBX SWMP LIS Permit Office Staff Access DPWES-SMBXSWMPLISPermitOfficeStaffAccess@fairfaxcounty.gov

Distribution to residents should be completed by the end of each quarter, specifically March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31 each year. 

Example forms of acceptable touch points include (but are not limited to) phone-based applications/platforms, phone “blasts” to customers, email or hard-copy newsletters, postcards, flyers, and cart tags/stickers.

Providing a URL to a website (e.g., somewhere on the bill or in the Statement of Service) will not be considered an acceptable touch point, URLs may be a touch point document to direct the customer to further information.

Fairfax Virtual Assistant