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Sustainable Blacksburg’s charge, as an organization, is to facilitate effective environmental stewardship in the Blacksburg area and to enhance the region’s livability and sustainability by reducing its impact on the local and global environment.
In the spring of 2008, Sustainable Blacksburg determined that it would pursue, as a focused project, the possibility of increasing and improving recycling downtown. This issue was selected in response to merchants’ and citizens’ comments about the pressing need to establish a comprehensive recycling program downtown.
Sustainable Blacksburg asked Bill Claus to chair a study group that would be composed of downtown merchants, interested citizens, local solid waste professionals, and Sustainable Blacksburg members, and to guide this study group toward making recommendations for establishing a uniform downtown recycling program.
CORE RECOMMENDATIONS
The core recommendations given below are based upon (i) feedback from downtown Blacksburg businesses and citizen representatives, (ii) the result of a systematic survey of downtown businesses by Sustainable Blacksburg and Virginia Tech student volunteers, (iii) the experiences of four similar, nearby municipalities in Virginia and North Carolina, and, (iv) the strong recommendations expressed by some of the employees in these cities who are directly responsible for the operation of their downtown refuse and recycling programs. One of the fundamental lessons learned from these other cities is that refuse and recycling programs in downtown districts should be linked together, because the efficient operation of one supports the other.
- Establish a single uniform recycling & refuse collection program for downtown Blacksburg businesses.
- Require all businesses in the downtown area to participate in the refuse & recycling program.
- Develop a “Pay As You Throw” system for refuse collection with fees based primarily on the weight or volume of material discarded.
- Provide education and training, periodically and free of charge, for downtown businesses
- Extend the recycling requirement to all businesses in Blacksburg.
For further details on these recommendations, supplemental recommendations and additional information regarding the study and proposed plan, please refer to the following documents:
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