CVWMA, Henrico County begin delivering 95-gallon recycling carts


The carts are coming. (Actually, in some places, they've already arrived.)

The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority and Henrico, Hanover and Goochland counties have begun a massive distribution effort to provide 95-gallon recycling carts to more than 95,000 households in the three localities – about 90,000 of which are in Henrico – during the next six weeks.

The carts are being delivered to all single-family homes in Henrico County and all households in Hanover and Goochland counties that recycle with CVWMA. It’s the largest cart rollout in the history of CVWMA, a public-service authority established in 1990 to assist the region with recycling and solid waste management initiatives.

“This endeavor is part of a broad, regional approach to increase access to recycling and provide residents with the tools and education they need to be involved,” CVWMA Executive Director Kim Hynes said. “CVWMA is proud to work alongside our many partners to implement this important step toward environmental and economic sustainability.”

The carts, which are identical to traditional trash carts used by many commercial services, will replace the 24-gallon (and wheel-less) handheld bins currently in use through the CVWMA program. All deliveries should be completed by June 30, and by the next day (July 1), the new carts will be the only acceptable container permitted for recycling collection at single-family homes in the county. Nothing placed beside the carts (including cardboard) will be collected, according to the CVWMA.

“Henrico County is excited to provide 90,000 county homes with these recycling carts — at no cost to the recipients — and is grateful for the partnership of CVWMA on this initiative,” Henrico County Chief of Staff Cari Tretina said. “Recycling is an essential component of Henrico’s broader focus on environmental stewardship, including the use of renewable energy in county facilities and the launch of a reforestation program for our parks and schools. This is another investment in building a sustainable future for our residents and families.”

Purchase of the carts is being funded in part with a $1.5 million grant from The Recycling Partnership, a national organization that aims to build a better recycling system in U.S. communities. Henrico is spending $4.3 million of its own money on the effort, as well. The county and CVWMA announced plans for the new carts in February.

“The Partnership, with support from PepsiCo Foundation, is excited to see these recycling carts start to roll out,” said Mari Long, community program manager at The Recycling Partnership. “The carts will provide residents with more capacity to recycle more materials and keep valuable recyclables out of the landfill and as part of the circular economy.”

In addition to the grant, CVWMA is in the process of securing a catalytic loan from Closed Loop Partners, a leading investment firm that supports services and infrastructure to create a circular economy.

“This collaboration is a key part of our work to advance local collection infrastructure in the U.S., which we view as critical to building a robust recycling value chain and more broadly, a circular economy,” said Jennifer Louie, head of the infrastructure group at Closed Loop Partners.

“We seek to identify and finance projects like CVWMA’s to advance the transition towards a circular economy.”

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Distributing the carts to so many households in a relatively short period of time is no small feat, requiring an average of more than 2,600 carts to be delivered every Monday through Saturday until June 30.

The eight delivery trucks being used to distribute the carts only are able to carry 200 of them at one time, according to CVWMA spokesperson Julie Buchanan, before they must return to one of the three spots at which Henrico officials are storing the carts to pick up more: the Public Utilities Operations Center on Woodman Road (where about 46,000 carts sit currently); the Public Utilities work yard on Nine Mile Road in Eastern Henrico; and the Springfield Road Public Use Area in Glen Allen.

So far, the crews are ahead of schedule, averaging about 4,000 deliveries per day, Buchanan said. Deliveries are happening in different regions of the county simultaneously, she said. Some homes in Lakeside were among the first to receive carts on Monday, and crews were planning to deliver in Montrose, parts of Highland Springs, parts of Tuckahoe, areas near Gayton Road and Lauderdale Drive, and areas near Libbie and Monument avenues this week as well, she said.

Crews are working Monday through Saturday from dawn to dusk to complete the deliveries, she said.

Some Henrico customers purchased the larger carts from CVWMA in previous months or years; those customers will not receive retroactive refunds, according to county officials.

Provision of the new carts not only will allow households to fit nearly four times as many recyclables in the new carts as compared with the existing bins but also will help streamline collection, according to the CVWMA. Drivers will be able to empty the carts using an automated arm, just as many trash collection companies do, which means drivers don’t need to leave their trucks.

Bins will continue to be used at townhouse and condominium communities in Henrico. Single-family household customers who would like to recycle their old bins should return them to one of the county’s two public use areas (10600 Fords Country Lane in Glen Allen, or 2075 Charles City Road in Eastern Henrico) or to one of the county’s two government centers (4305 East Parham Road or 3820 Nine Mile Road), according to the CVWMA.

As part of the changes, half of the county’s curbside recycling households will move from the “red week” to “blue week” collection schedule, though the day of the week on which collections are made for those households will not change. Customers were notified last month April of their recycling schedules, according to the CVMWA. The organization provides recycling collections to its curbside customers in Henrico every other week.

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The new carts were manufactured in the U.S. by Rehrig Pacific Co and contain 35% post-consumer recycled plastic, with 10% sourced from the region’s own recycled No. 2 high-density polyethylene, such as laundry detergent and shampoo bottles.

In addition, the plastic from old Henrico County trash cans is being recycled back into the carts. The carts contain the highest amount of locally sourced recycled material in the country, according to CVWMA officials.

Cart delivery is anticipated to be complete by June 30. Residents can begin using the carts as soon as they receive them. All recyclables must be placed inside the cart, which will lead to safer and more efficient collections.

Each new cart will come with instructions on what to recycle and how to place the cart for collection.

Recycling collection with CVWMA is every other week. The following items are accepted:
• aluminum and steel cans;
• mixed paper and cardboard;
• plastic bottles, containers and tubs;
• food and beverage cartons;
• food and beverage glass bottles and jars.

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Learn more about the new carts at https://cvwma.com/recycling-2023.

– Citizen Editor Tom Lappas contributed to this article.