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Fairfax County officials are taking another look at how residential trash is collected, two months after supervisors halted consideration of a proposal to create unified sanitary districts.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck urged the county to revisit unified residential trash collection during a July 7 Environmental Committee meeting. He also suggested that Mount Vernon could serve as the site of a pilot examining greater local-government regulation of the service.
“I hope we can look at it again. I want to have the conversation we never really had,” Storck said.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, who chairs the committee, said the Board of Supervisors’ earlier decision to shelve the concept did not prevent officials from returning to it.
“We can absolutely look at it again,” Palchik said.
At Storck’s request, Department of Public Works and Environmental Services staff are now evaluating potential waste-management pilot programs that could operate under Fairfax County’s existing authority. The review is preliminary, and officials have not specified what a Mount Vernon pilot might involve.
“This is still in early concept stages, and no action would be taken without further public conversation with the Board of Supervisors and the community,” Public Works Director Christopher Herrington said.
As of July 28, neither a Mount Vernon pilot nor a renewed proposal for unified sanitary districts had received approval.
The latest discussion follows the board’s decision in May to halt consideration of unified sanitary districts after concerns from members of the public and the waste-hauling industry. The specific concerns are not identified in the available reporting.
Under the shelved proposal, Fairfax County would have contracted directly with private haulers to collect trash from all single-family homes and townhouses inside designated unified sanitary districts. That would differ from the arrangements used by most county residents today.
About 10% of Fairfax County property owners receive county-operated trash and recycling collection. Most other residents contract individually with private haulers or receive service arranged through homeowners’ or community associations.
County staff had proposed a longer path toward unified collection in late 2024. Their plan called for starting a legally required notice period in 2025 and establishing a unified trash district by 2030. Virginia law requires localities to provide five years’ notice before changing to a government-run collection system.
The potential pilot now under review would be limited to programs available under the county’s current authority, according to officials. No details have been provided about its possible boundaries, collection rules, cost, schedule or measures of success. Further talks with supervisors and the community would come before any action.
Residential collection policies vary across Northern Virginia. Loudoun and Prince William counties do not offer countywide trash collection, though localities within those counties may provide the service. Arlington County and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church require residential collection through their local governments instead of leaving households to arrange service individually with private haulers.
For Fairfax County, the immediate question is narrower than whether to revive the entire unified-district proposal. Staff are first exploring what kind of pilot, if any, the county could conduct using powers it already has. Any larger change would still face a public process, board consideration and, for a government-run system, the state-mandated notice period.