Information Charlottesville

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is preparing a plan for what happens to discarded materials that is required by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that is due in October. (review the Solid Waste Plan)

“The solid waste and recycling plan for our region consists of Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna and Greene,” said Shirese Franklin, a planner with TJPDC.

Nelson County works with the planning district commission around Lynchburg and Louisa County manages and maintains their own municipal landfill. Solid waste planning units have to submit a plan every five years. 

“The plan aims to address regional collaboration and how the region reduces, resuses, and recycles,” Franklin said. “We also within this plan want to encourage education around those things.”

Every year, the TJPDC submits a recycling rate report to the DEQ.

“We have to make sure that we are over 25 percent in our recycling rate,” Franklin said. “This year we haven’t received our final result from the DEQ. When I sent it, I believe we are at 43 [percent], but it depends on what they give in the final say of what we actually are.”

Interested in specific parts of the plan? Section 2.5 deals with “markets for the reuse and recycling of materials. Section 3 reviews all of the landfills in the community that are now closed. Section 4.1 projects how much waste is expected to be generated by 2045. Section 4.4 explains how that recycling rate is calculated. 

Franklin said she needed to add additional data to the plan before it will be completed. The TJDPC will take another look in October.