Business Recycling Requirements Expand to Include All City Businesses

The city's regulation for business recycling is covered under City Code:

Sec. 74-9.

(b) Non-residential (commercial/industrial) recycling.

(1) Owners of non-residential properties (properties used for commercial or industrial, or other non-residential, purposes) shall provide, or cause to be provide, a recycling system for their tenants, occupants, employees, and vendors to source-separate:

• Aluminum food and beverage containers
• Glass food and beverage containers – brown, clear or green
• Ferrous (iron) cans
• PET plastic containers with the symbol #1 – with screw tops only, without caps
• HDPE natural plastic containers with the symbol #2 – narrow neck containers only (milk and water bottles)
• HDPE pigmented plastic containers with the symbol #2 – narrow neck containers only, without caps (detergent, shampoo bottles, etc.)
• Plastics with symbols #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7 – narrow and screw top containers
• Newsprint
• Corrugated cardboard
• Magazines
• Catalogs
• Cereal boxes
• Telephone books
• Printed paper
• Copier paper
• Mail
• All other office paper without wax liners

(2) Owners must provide system users with notification regarding the use and participation in such system upon occupancy and at least once annually thereafter.

(3) These provisions do not impose any liability upon any non-residential property owner for failure of tenants, occupants, employees, and/or vendors to comply with the requirements for the source separation of recyclable materials. However, all non-residential property owners must provide, or cause to be provided, a recycling system for their tenants, occupants, employees, vendors and/or customers in conformance with the city requirements for such systems, and must provide such tenants, occupants, employees, vendors and/or customers notification regarding the use and participation in such system, as specified herein.

(c) Recycling Report(s) Required. The owners of all non-residential properties shall annually report, by March 1 of each calendar year, such non-proprietary information regarding waste generation, waste management and recycling as is necessary to facilitate city compliance with applicable regulations adopted pursuant to Virginia Code Section 10.1-1411. All reports required by this section shall be based on volume or weight of each material recycled, provided that where such measurements cannot be accurately determined, the report may be based on carefully estimated data. Where estimates are submitted, they must contain sufficient detail to reasonably describe how the estimate was prepared, including but not limited to such data as a container volume, frequency of collection, percent full when collected, and the type of material collected for recycling. When information is withheld as proprietary, the report shall specify the nature of the information withheld and the basis for its proprietary determination. Annual recycling reports shall be submitted on a standardized form to be provided by the city manager or his designee, and shall be signed by the property owner, or an individual duly authorized to make such certifications on behalf of such non-residential property owner. Said reports shall include but not be limited to the name and address of the reporting entity, period of time covered by the report, and type and weight/volume of each material reported. Supporting documentation used in the preparation of the report shall be retained for audit and clarification of reported data for a period of two (2) years following submission of said report.

For further questions about commercial recycling, please contact the Public Works Operations Division at 703-385-7837 or email.