This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which hopefully means trash and recycling pickup. I say hopefully, because the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority has struggled to maintain its schedule due to a shortage of workers and has missed some pickups recently and had to reschedule. That said, as neighbors, we should do our best to help.
One tool that might help ameliorate the situation if pickup does not come is this online form:
https://cvwma.com/programs/residential-recycling/recycling-service-request-form/
Please go over what can be recycled. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.
If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.
In recycling news, a recycling center in Chesapeake, VA caught fire Saturday afternoon causing a cloud of gray smoke that could be seen for miles.
On the national front, as reported by Waste Advantage magazine, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) and Co-Chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus, along with Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, and John Boozman (R-Ark.), Co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus and member of the EPW Committee, introduced two pieces of legislation focused on improving the nation’s recycling and composting systems.
The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act would require the EPA to collect, and make publically available, data on recycling and composting rates across the country, while the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act would establish a pilot rural recycling program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “When we look at opportunities for reducing pollution and waste and creating good-paying jobs domestically, recycling is an area that unites most Americans,” Chairman Carper said. “Yet, our nation continues to recycle only about one-third of the products we consume each year, leading to more and more waste overflowing from our landfills and polluting our oceans. To address this growing problem, I’m pleased to introduce a pair of bipartisan bills with Senators Capito and Boozman that would help strengthen our nation’s recycling and composting efforts. Our legislation would improve data collection for our nation’s recycling systems, explore opportunities for a national composting strategy, and expand recycling access in underserved communities. These commonsense solutions will move us closer to creating a more sustainable, circular economy and leaving behind a livable planet for future generations, which we all want.”
In international news, researchers at the University of Bath have developed a method for upcycling plastic waste at room temperature.