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Council hears robust public input and options as city finalizes 20‑year solid waste plan

Fairfax City Council · February 7, 2026

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Summary

Staff and consultants reviewed a major five‑year update to the city’s 20‑year Solid Waste Management Plan, reporting broad public engagement, survey results favoring recycling and organics, and a menu of policy options including container limits, bulk pickup fees, curbside organics and twin public recycling bins.

Fairfax City staff and consultants presented the draft update to the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan on Feb. 3, 2026, describing public engagement, regional benchmarking and a set of strategies the city is evaluating ahead of a planned public hearing and council adoption in April.

Melissa McDonald, Environmental Sustainability Specialist, said the draft plan satisfies Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requirements and lays out 20‑year goals for infrastructure, programs and policies. The outreach program included tabling events, an online survey (over 600 respondents), and other channels that together produced nearly 50,000 engagement touch points, staff said. Survey results show strong resident support: 91.5% of respondents said they support efforts to increase recycling and 92% said they actively recycle.

Based on public input and regional practices, staff presented five strategy categories: effective government operations; education and outreach; reduce and reuse; recycling; and organics. Specific measures under consideration include container‑limit policies and bulk‑pickup fees to improve financial sustainability and fairness; pairing public recycling bins with trash receptacles; piloting or studying curbside organics (food/yard waste) collection; evaluating glass recycling approaches; conducting a commercial and multifamily waste audit; and updating solid waste ordinances to enable enforcement and modernization.

Councilmembers emphasized sequencing — several suggested updating ordinances first to give staff enforcement authority — and asked for more detail on commercial/multifamily recycling, equity impacts for low‑income residents, and cost/savings estimates. Staff said a residential curbside assessment, commercial audit and further outreach will be part of next steps and that final plan adoption is scheduled for submission to DEQ by May 1, 2026 with council action expected in April.