City of Alexandria Sees Big Increase in Recycling for 2010

Alexandria experienced a recycling rate of 41.4 percent for 2010, reflecting a more than 50 percent increase in both commercial and residential recycling collections, in combination with decreasing trash tonnages.

The city also saw a 24 percent increase in collections at the Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics site, a 146 percent improvement in the city facilities and schools recycling program.

A statement from the city said recycling has increased partly due to the distribution in October of last year of 35 and 64-gallon recycling bins, more collection of leaf and yard waste and better community outreach, resulting in a 50 percent increase for the commercial recycling program.

"It’s sort of a combination of a lot of things. It’s tough to capture it all," said Yon Lambert, a deputy director with the city's Department of Transportation and Environmental Services. "But clearly the transition to the larger carts played a role. ... The other big reason that we saw this dramatic increase is that we collected over 9,400 tons of leaf and yard waste." 

Lambert said the debris from the Aug. 5 storm of last year increased the yard waste totals, as well as Christmas tree pickups. He said it will be interesting to see the 2011 numbers after the city has had the new recycling bins for a full year. 

Alexandria also earned more than $463,000 in revenue from the sale of recycled materials in 2010 and saved more than $1.3 million in disposal costs by diverting materials from the waste stream, according to the city.