City Receives Grant and Will Upgrade Recycling Program

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~ Funding will facilitate alley collection in some areas ~

Following a rigorous process involving municipalities throughout the southeast, Richmond has been selected as one of four cities to partner with Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) during a first of its kind private/public recycling agreement, called CVP’s The Recycling Partnership. The program will help the City move forward with plans to collect recycling in alleys in neighborhoods where trash is picked up in alleys. Currently recycling is limited to curbside pick-up.

Under the terms of the Richmond agreement, the City will receive nearly $560,000. Of that amount, $350,000 will be used to purchase the 95-gallon recycling carts, each equipped with a radio frequency identification device (RFID) tag tracking mechanism; another $210,000 will go toward an expanded community outreach/education campaign and the implementation of a six month phase-in program to begin alley collection at approximately 6,000 homes. The plan is to expand the program city-wide by the end of 2015.

The City is working locally with Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) and TFC Recycling to facilitate the phase-in program. CVWMA currently provides the recycling contract service with TFC, which collects curbside recyclables citywide.

Residents in the targeted phase-in areas will begin receiving carts and educational information about the program and how it works on January 16. As the program rolls out, residents will receive information ahead of the program coming to their neighborhood.

“I am extremely pleased that Richmond has been selected for this partnership. We’ve been working to increase our sustainability efforts and this grant will help us prevent waste and protect our natural environment by creating new products from used ones,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “I have long said that our supercans should be smaller than our recycle bins and this partnership helps move us closer to that goal.”

In addition, residents who use recycling carts will be able to utilize Recycling Perks, which is a program that rewards those who recycle by offering incentives from local businesses who participate in the program. The program has three key advantages: (1) promotes local merchants, (2) helps divert waste from landfills, (3) allows you to save money through discounts as participating merchants.

The recycling project originated with the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC), but is now fully funded by CVP Recycling Partnership. Initially, 11 states recommended 20 municipalities in the southeast region for the funding. Ten of the recommended cities completed the process and four, including Richmond, Columbia, South Carolina and Florence, Alabama were selected. The fourth city will be announced by the end of the year.