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, an executive order this spring by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin trumpeted efforts to boost recycling, but it also eliminated a commitment by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics at state agencies and universities.
Click here for Energy News Network story.

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 the news, as the Virginia Mercury reports, Virginia took in less trash from out of state in 2021 (but still a lot).

The amount of solid waste Virginia accepted from other states dipped in 2021 compared to the prior year, but the commonwealth still took in more than 5.3 million tons of out-of-state trash.
According to an annual report on solid waste issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Monday, 23.6 percent of the state’s 22.7 million tons of solid waste last year came from other jurisdictions.
In 2020, that proportion was 25.2 percent.
Maryland continued to be the largest contributor of out-of-state waste, giving Virginia facilities almost 2.4 million tons. Other big givers were New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. and North Carolina.

Most of that out-of-state waste was municipal solid waste, or the everyday garbage thrown out by households and small businesses.

The Virginia Mercury also had some other good and bad news:

Two recent news stories show that for every small step forward Virginians take to protect the environment, we often take one backward. The net gain is negligible.
Since this is the only planet we occupy, we should do better. Future generations will curse us for our sorry stewardship of the air, water and soil.
First the good: Officials in Virginia Beach, the commonwealth’s largest city, are considering whether to enact a 5-cent tax on disposable plastic bags. The City Council could vote as soon as July on a proposal, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Plastic bags take forever to break down. Fewer bags would mean less plastic debris in waterways, and reduce the harm to sea life and storm drains. It also would mean less plastic ending up in landfills.
Now the bad: Chesapeake, the state’s second-largest city, will end municipal-run curbside recycling on June 30. The decision will mean – for the first time in more than a quarter-century – public curbside recycling will cease in the city.
Instead, residents can sign up for “subscription-based” recycling services from private companies, costing $11 a month; it will cost even more to recycle glass. Or folks can schlepp their plastics, metal cans, paper and cardboard to about a half-dozen drop-off sites around the city.
There’s no way the participation rate, now around 80 percent, will be anywhere close.

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, new battery recycling technology is coming- Aqua Metals Inc., a metals recycling company based in McCarran, Nevada, has announced it is deploying its AquaRefining technology in a lithium-ion battery recycling pilot at its Innovation Center in Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center that will begin operations later this year.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is hopefully a trash/recycling pickup since the usual “Red Wednesday” was put off by the Memorial Day three-day weekend, 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, Atlantic magazine has a provocatively titled article called “Plastic Recycling Doesn’t Work and Will Never Work”. The teaser on it says “If the plastics industry is following the tobacco industry’s playbook, it may never admit to the failure of plastics recycling”, which Richmond, as a bastion of ‘the tobacco industry’, may take interest in.

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, the Greek island of Tilos is a pioneer.

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.

Bulk Trash reminder:
In addition to bi-weekly bulk and brush collections that coincide with the recycling collection schedule, the City’s Department of Public Work’s Neighborhood Clean-Up Program is another service provided to help residents dispose of bulk items. Residents in each of the designated neighborhood zones across the city will have two additional opportunities during the year to place bulk and brush items out for collection.
The program runs on selected Saturdays starting on March 12 and ending November 19.
DPW crews will collect items curbside and in alleys (wherever trash is normally placed to be collected) from 8 a.m. until noon on the designated Saturdays.
Examples of acceptable items include: furniture, mattresses, tires (four per household) and appliances.
All brush must be cut into four foot lengths and bundled.
They will take everything except: electronics, construction debris, hazardous waste items and broken glass.

May 14 / September 24 – Zone 7 – Oregon Hill

In recycling news, if you’ve ordered a new recycling bin from Central Virginia Waste Management, the bins are still on backorder because of supply chain issues. Bins ordered in April and May should be delivered in 8-10 weeks. In the meantime, CVWMA says you can use your own container.

In national recycling news, while Gov. Youngkin’s administration seems to be in Big Plastic’s pocket, California will investigate whether fossil fuel companies have broken the law by perpetuating myths about plastic recycling, their Attorney General Rob Bonta announced last week. The main premise is that companies have misled consumers into thinking that recycling keeps plastic out of landfills and ecosystems. (A good reminder that we need to be CITIZENS, and not just consumers!).

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.

Bulk Trash reminder:
In addition to bi-weekly bulk and brush collections that coincide with the recycling collection schedule, the City’s Department of Public Work’s Neighborhood Clean-Up Program is another service provided to help residents dispose of bulk items. Residents in each of the designated neighborhood zones across the city will have two additional opportunities during the year to place bulk and brush items out for collection.
The program runs on selected Saturdays starting on March 12 and ending November 19.
DPW crews will collect items curbside and in alleys (wherever trash is normally placed to be collected) from 8 a.m. until noon on the designated Saturdays.
Examples of acceptable items include: furniture, mattresses, tires (four per household) and appliances.
All brush must be cut into four foot lengths and bundled.
They will take everything except: electronics, construction debris, hazardous waste items and broken glass.

May 14 / September 24 – Zone 7 – Oregon Hill

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.

Bulk Trash reminder:
In addition to bi-weekly bulk and brush collections that coincide with the recycling collection schedule, the City’s Department of Public Work’s Neighborhood Clean-Up Program is another service provided to help residents dispose of bulk items. Residents in each of the designated neighborhood zones across the city will have two additional opportunities during the year to place bulk and brush items out for collection.
The program runs on selected Saturdays starting on March 12 and ending November 19.
DPW crews will collect items curbside and in alleys (wherever trash is normally placed to be collected) from 8 a.m. until noon on the designated Saturdays.
Examples of acceptable items include: furniture, mattresses, tires (four per household) and appliances.
All brush must be cut into four foot lengths and bundled.
They will take everything except: electronics, construction debris, hazardous waste items and broken glass.

May 14 / September 24 – Zone 7 – Oregon Hill

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 international recycling news, the Ukraine war has rippling effects–

Primary aluminum is another large-tonnage Russian export. In the first 11 months of 2021, some 183,000 metric tons of Russian-made finished and semifinished aluminum found its way to the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite previously existing sanctions, that made Russia the second biggest exporter of aluminum to the U.S. last year, following only the United Arab Emirates (and not including neighboring free trade zone partners Canada and Mexico).
Postinvasion, prices for finished aluminum and aluminum scrap have trended upward. London Metal Exchange (LME) prices at the start of March reached $1.58 per pound, or $3,495 per metric ton. That is a 107 percent increase compared with the $1,684 per metric ton (76 cents per pound) value of LME aluminum at the start of March 2021.

RECYCLE YOUR CANS! Think of Ukraine…

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.