There is no good option for disposing of waste. When we bury it, landfills leech toxins and emit methane gas. Burning trash, as is done in several Virginia jurisdictions, is damaging to our resources and is even more costly and polluting. Most often, our landfills and incinerators are located in communities of color. That’s why we need to reduce waste.

The minimum recycle requirement should be raised for large solid waste planning districts from the current 25% to 80%, phased in over several years. Fairfax County, where I live, has exceeded the state minimum recycling rate in 19 out of the past 20 years. But the County’s recycling rate has been stagnant in the mid-40s for several years. No new impactful programs have been enacted to increase our recycling.

80% diversion is achievable. We’ll need to add composting and glass collection, not only in residential areas, but in the vastly underserved multifamily housing and restaurants and grocery stores. We can continue to nibble away at our waste problems, or we can change the rules to allow large scale meaningful changes.

Other jurisdictions have set goals and are making progress. Gainesville, Florida’s goal is to divert 90% of waste by 2040. Dallas’s goals are to reduce single-family waste landfilled by 45% by 2040; recycle 80% of organic waste and 90% of paper waste by 2050. Dallas’ goal is to divert 60% of recycling, organics and brush by 2025. Phoenix’s goal is to divert 50% of waste from landfills by 2030 and at least 90% by 2050.