I have lived in and have been a homeowner in Fairfax County for more than 50 years.  I also spent most of my career as a consultant to the US EPA's Office of Solid Waste on recycling and sustainability.  I deeply care about the County's recycling program and have seen it deteriorate over time.  I think it's important to focus on the "big ticket" opportunities to divert materials from disposal, especially given that the Covanta WTE facility is aging.  A big opportunity would be to divert the many tons of organic waste from the many grocery stores, schools, and restaurants in our county, by establishing a local industrial composting facility.  The compost could be sold at a reasonable cost to subsidize some of the operation.  It's a nice PR strategy to encourage residents to compost but that's really not going to make a big difference.  Commercial composting will. I really hope this happens in my lifetime.