The Fairfax City Council recently approved an updated waste management plan that it says is needed due to projections that landfills across Virginia may reach capacity in less than 20 years, a rising population, and soaring costs for disposing of municipal waste.
Council members unanimously voted May 12 to accept the 87-page plan with 54 actions planned across two decades. The plan emphasizes developing effective government systems; education and outreach to city residents; reducing waste overall and emphasizing reuse; increasing the amount and quality of items recycled; and resource recovery for food and yard waste.
“The city’s population is projected to increase from approximately 24,020 in 2020 to nearly 40,000 by 2050,” said Helen Lee, a senior consultant with RRS, a company that helped develop the plan. “More people means more waste generated, which makes it imperative that our waste management, infrastructure and programs scale accordingly.”
State law requires that cities, towns, and counties update their waste management plans every five years. But in their presentation, staff noted that economic factors created a need for the city to act: municipal solid waste costs have increased 73% since 2007 — from $52 per ton to $90 per ton in fiscal year 2026…