Memo #1
Issue Summary:
Composting stations need to be promoted in such a way that residents of Fairfax County are aware of the opportunity and know how to properly engage in composting activities so that more waste can be diverted from landfills. Fairfax has long promoted many recycling initiatives, but has only recently begun to delve into the practice of composting. Meanwhile, other counties and countries have been effectively promoting large scale composting for years. While Fairfax has taken a step in the right direction by opening these locations and making them readily available to the public from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day of the week,[1] more should be done to encourage this sustainable behavior.
Background:
We currently live in a throw-away society, strongly influenced by the reaches of consumerism. According to the Environmental Protection Agency[2], as of 2018, the total generation of municipal solid waste in the United States was 292.4 million tons. To put that number is perspective, that is about 4.9 pounds per person per day. Out of the 11 categories provided by the EPA, the two biggest offenders for most waste generated was the Paper/Paperboard category and the Food category, comprising 23.05% and 21.59% of the waste stream, respectively. It is important that some of this waste stream be diverted to align with Fairfax County’s sustainability initiative to “reduce the volume of the solid waste stream through the implementation of waste reduction and recycling programs.”[3]
Policy Options:
Draw inspiration from other counties and adopt practices that help engage the community in composting initiatives.
On the San Diego Department of Public Works website, links to a fully comprehensive guide are provided to help increase understanding among the public and guide citizens in which composting style suits them best. For example, “Choose a Compost Style that Works for You,” “Composting Basics,” “The Compost Continuum,” and “Compost Trouble Shooting & Additional Resources” are all sections of this guide that residents have access to.[4]
Offer discounted compost bins via compost bin voucher programs.
Implement a vermiculture composting program in which residents can rent or borrow composting bins and equipment from the county of Fairfax to begin their own composting efforts at home. [7]
Provide free composting workshops or classes to the community to spread the word and help increase compost understanding for those who prefer hands on experience.
Implement curbside pick-up for compost. The city of Fairfax already participates in curb-side pickup for the following categories: single stream recyclables, yard waste, metal, lumber, brush/stumps, and vacuumed leaves. [8]
Pros and Cons:
Creating a well-laid out and thoroughly detailed guide is an extremely effective way to introduce citizens to the idea of composting, and it does not require an immense number of resources or funding.
While offering programs in which residents have access to discounted or rented composting bins can be a useful method for encouraging sustainable behavior, these programs could be very costly for the county. It may be difficult to obtain a sizable amount of “rentable” composting bins for such a dense population.
While free composting workshops could help residents feel more comfortable with the idea of composting and encourage them to try it via hands on experience, this program would require time, a workshop location, supplies, and instructors, which may be difficult to obtain.
Given the fact that 90% of residents and businesses receive trash/recycling pick up services via private collection companies,[9] implementing a curb side pickup program for the 10% that receives trash/recycling pickup from the county would be a more easily obtained goal. However, 10% of Fairfax county is still close to 100,000 residents, according to the 2019 United States Census Bureau. [10]
An environmental impact of backyard composting is the possibility of attracting unwanted vermin. It is the responsibility of the composter to keep their bin well secured, therefore, if they are unfamiliar with composting techniques, the county of Fairfax could experience a pest complication.
Recommendations:
Fairfax County should create a thoroughly detailed guide to help residents better understand composting and aid in any problems they may be experiencing when first beginning their composting journey. Composting can be an intimidating enterprise to undertake, but having thorough resources readily available can help ease the concerns of first-time composters. To help compose this guide, members of the Solid Waste Management Plan Advisory Committee could reach out to the U.S. composting council.
Discounted composting bins, rented composting bins, and curb-side pickup amenities should fall to the deputy director of solid waste management, John Kellas, as he is responsible for trash/recycling collection, services, and schedules. A potential company to reach out to for discounted composting bins is GEOBIN, as our neighboring county of Arlington has already obtained a successful partnership with this company.
The composting workshops should fall to executive director Laura Grape, as she is in charge of the current “Build Your Own Tumbler Composter” workshop. [11]
[1] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/food-scraps-composting-drop
[2] https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials
[3] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/environment-energy-coordination/sites/environment-energy-coordination/files/assets/documents/pdf/fy%202020%20sustainability%20initiatives.pdf
[4] https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/dpw/recycling/composting.html
[5] https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/dpw/recycling/composting.html
[6] https://recycling.arlingtonva.us/residential/yard-waste/composting/
[7] https://www.ca-ilg.org/sustainability-best-practice-area/waste-reduction-recycling
[8] https://www.fairfaxva.gov/home/showpublisheddocument?id=12311
[9] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/permitted-solid-waste-collection-companies
[10] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fairfaxcountyvirginia
[11] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/soil-water-conservation/build-your-own-tumbler-composter
Memo #2
Issue Summary
Fairfax County should create a committee to encourage residents to compost—either at
home, through private contractors, or at government sites— by providing information on
these options and recommending compost-friendly legislation to the Virginia legislature.
Fairfax County only has three different compost locations, the Fairfax City Compost
center, and the two Food Scraps Composting Drop Off sites at the I-95 Landfill
Complex and the I-66 Transfer Station. Unfortunately these sites are not nearly enough 1
to serve all of the county’s residents. Fairfax Co. needs to increase the number of
compost drop off sites around the County in order to be affective in providing this
compost option to its citizens.
Background
In America roughly 40% of food produced is thrown away, equalling 219lbs of food per
person annually. Of this food waste, less than 5% is composted, instead getting sent to 2
the landfill were it takes up space and decomposes. Food waste is by far the largest 3
component filling up landfills. By redirecting food waste to composting we are
prolonging the life of our waste management facilities while making them more efficient
in handling non-organic waste. Due to the sheer amount of food waste produced, three
compost locations is not nearly enough. This would if it were specialized waste like
computers and fridges however food waste is produced daily and in high quantities
around the county.
Policy Options
• Other states including California have enacted laws to reduce organic waste disposal by
75% by 2025.4
1 https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/food-scraps-composting-drop
https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/ 2:~:text=That’s%2080%20billion%20pounds%20of,up%20space%20inside%20US%20landfills. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures- 3 materials#13-14Trends
4 https://www.waste360.com/legislation-regulation/california-first-state-mandate-universal-composting
• A similar policy as the Purple Can Club by providing numerous drop off sites around
the county. If the results are similar, would lead to much more efficient waste disposal
in a short time. 5
• Encourage/Require use of private contractors such as Apex Organix for compost
removal.6
• Raise awareness of these options through public outreach and flier distribution at
relevant community locations, i.e. police station, post office, parks, and farmer’s
markets.
Pros and Cons
• These policy options are quite actionable and have been passed and enacted effectively
in other states, these pieces of legislation can act as guides/examples to make our own.
• It would be easily feasible to add a second shipping container for composting next to
the Purple Can Club shipping container for glass recycling at all the major government
locations already in use. These shipping containers are not prohibitively expensive in
the amount needed for this project.
• By providing more government drop off options there will be support for low-income
households that may not be able to compost at home or hire a private composting
contractor.
• This will benefit the state waste management program as there will be significantly less
organic waste entering the landfills, allowing the landfills to operate much longer than
expected and serve the surround areas for many more years to come.
• This will allow the food waste to compost affectively and create less methane gas that
will enter the atmosphere. Methane gas is one of the strongest greenhouse gasses
contributing to global warming and climate change and is 28 times stronger than carbon
dioxide. Landfills account for 34% of the US’s methane production. 7 8
Recommendations
• This proposal should be brought up at the next board of supervisors environmental
committee meeting, from this the environmental committee should introduce the
proposal as a bill that would encompass all the above issues, and would designate a
compost committee that partners with the state waste management department.
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/news/regional-approach-glass-recycling-leads-creation-purple-can- 5
club
https://apex-organix.com/ 6
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/07/31/food-waste/ 7
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talk-waste-land/ 8
• The committee’s sole priority would be to increase the compost drop off locations and
develop outreach programs to raise awareness on the facilities available for Fairfax
county residents.
• The committee should continue to improve composting services, while also
encouraging residents to compost at home for maximum benefit.
Memo #3
Issue Summary
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality requires that Fairfax County, as with all other jurisdictions have a 20-year waste management plan. The waste management plan for the county was approved in 2005 and has an important objective to guarantee there is sufficient capacity for the waste produced in Fairfax County[1]. This lends importance to recycling to reduce the amount of solid waste that ends up in the landfill. Composting is a relatively new and unfamiliar form of recycling for residents in the County that requires adequate education and promotion to optimize participation.
Background
Since 1950, it has been a priority for Fairfax County’s Solid Waste Management Program to promote sustainability through proper waste management, waste reduction, recycling, and pollution prevention[2]. Fairfax County currently offers curbside recycling for things such as yard waste, paper and cardboard, metal cans, and plastic bottles[3]. Over eight million tons of material has been recycled instead of getting disposed of in the landfill since the year 1999[4]. A third of daily disposed trash is comprised of food waste and winds up in a landfill[5]. However, Fairfax County has recently opened two sites that would allow the drop off of food scraps. The sites are located at the I-95 Landfill Complex and the I-66 Transfer Station, which is also where recyclable items that were uncollected for curbside pick-up may be dropped off.
Policy Options
Develop a solid waste advisory for customers about how to properly utilize compost food scraps drop-off locations[6].
Establish one or more centralized compost collection sites
Offer an annual workshop to educate residents on the importance of composting and how they can compost from home.
Create a vermiculture (worm bin) composting program where residents can borrow composting bins and equipment to start their own compost at home[7].
Establish a composting program with schools that would allow students to bring food scraps from home to compost. In addition, it would allow students to compost food scraps from breakfast, lunch, and/or snacks from the school day.
Pros and Cons
An increased participation from residents would generate more compost that can be used for soil restoration projects within Fairfax County.
Reduction in the amount of food waste inside the landfill, which would increase its lifespan.
At home composting may encourage residents to start their own garden. Doing so would give residents the opportunity to have access to affordable and sustainable fruits and vegetables in addition to an improved diet and overall health.
At home composting may lead to more vermin to come into residential areas. This has the potential of an increase in the incidence of zoonotic diseases such as rabies.
Recommendations
Fairfax County should issue out a survey to residents to get an idea of what the county can do or offer that would ensure residential participation and develop a plan for improvements based on the feedback received.
Offer incentives for residents that actively compost to further encourage participation
Search for a new drop off site location that is more centralized to the county’s population distribution
Make revisions to the current Solid Waste Management Program to include more composting services.
[1] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/environment-energy-coordination/sites/environment-energy-coordination/files/assets/documents/pdf/fy%202020%20sustainability%20initiatives.pdf
[2] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/environment/sites/environment/files/assets/documents/pdf/environmental-vision-2017.pdf
[3]https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/county-collection-customers/recycling
[4] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/environment/sites/environment/files/assets/documents/pdf/environmental-vision-2017.pdf
[5] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/food-scraps-composting-drop
[6] https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/trash-collection-and-disposal-industry
[7] https://www.ca-ilg.org/sustainability-best-practice-area/waste-reduction-recycling