DEQ outlines statewide solid waste plan and recycling data tool funded by EPA grant

Catherine Perzik, Director of the Division of Land Protection and Revitalization at the Department of Environmental Quality, told the Virginia Waste Management Board that DEQ has secured EPA Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFFR) grant funding and is using it to develop a statewide solid waste management plan and a recycling data collection and analysis tool.

"This was first time funding from EPA provided to states specifically to improve post consumer materials management programs," Perzik said, noting that DEQ projects funded by the grant include development of a statewide plan and an online tool for localities to submit recycling data through the myDEQ portal. She said Virginia's current statewide recycling rate is 42.5% (based on 2023 data) and cited EPA's national target of 50% by 2030 as context for the work.

Perzik said Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) was contracted last fall to prepare a baseline assessment and draft plan outline with a proposed planning period of 2026'146. The baseline assessment will examine prior DEQ reports, mapping of facilities and infrastructure, and a gap analysis covering policy, financial and technical needs. She said DEQ held a March 4 stakeholder input session with representatives from Northern Virginia, Richmond and Charlottesville and will seek broader input as the draft plan is finalized.

The director also reported legislative and program updates. She said House Bill 1379 (2024) consolidated several reporting deadlines so that certain annual reports now are due Oct. 1, affecting DEQ's toxics release inventory and the solid waste information assessment. On expanded polystyrene food-service containers, Perzik said implementation dates currently in DEQ guidance are July 1, 2025 for certain restaurants and July 1, 2026 for other vendors, though she cautioned budget language could change those dates.

Perzik updated the board on DEQ's coal combustion residuals (CCR) permit program work and said agency staff are preparing a transmittal to EPA describing Virginia's permitting, compliance and enforcement authorities and the state's incorporation of the federal CCR rule. "We're on the cusp of submitting that to EPA," she said.

Board members raised industry concerns. Michael Benedetta of TFC Recycling described the importance of recycling equipment tax credits and warned that some single-cart collection proposals could divert paper from paper recycling markets into processes that produce biochar rather than paper feedstock, potentially harming local mills. Perzik said the statewide plan is intended to examine infrastructure, markets and policy options, and that the draft plan will return to the board for review and final action following further public comment and stakeholder engagement.

Perzik said DEQ will continue to update the board as the SWIFFR projects progress and when the CCR permit transmittal is submitted to EPA.