City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 7, 2019
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Public Hearing and Consideration of the WasteSmart Plan, Alexandria's 20-Year Strategic Plan to Sustainably Recover Resources.
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ISSUE: Consideration of the goals, targets and action items comprising the WasteSmart Strategic Plan.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council hold a public hearing and receive for adoption the proposed WasteSmart Strategic Plan ("Plan") (Attachment 1), a 20-year Plan of short-, medium- and long-term action items on Saturday, January 12.
BACKGROUND: Solid waste collection, disposal and recycling are some of the City's most important responsibilities and core services. The City has an existing Solid Waste Management Plan which is approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and establishes a framework for City services considered annually in the budget process. The City assesses an annual residential refuse fee (currently $373 annually1) which is paid by mostly single-family and townhome owners to 100% cover the costs of the collection and disposal costs associated with weekly trash and recycling collection, yard waste/brush collection, household hazardous waste center operations and special collections including Spring Clean-Up and Leaf Collection. The fee is listed on real estate tax bills and paid semiannually. Trash and recycling collection from businesses and multifamily homes (which comprise more than 70% of the City's waste stream) is mostly collected by private haulers. The City's 20,200 residential customers give the City high marks for solid waste, recycling and yard waste collection services in the annual resident survey, with citizen satisfaction rates exceeding 80%.
In recent years, the global recycling market has experienced tremend...
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