After nearly two hours of trash talk, Falls Church City Council leaders have settled on two potential options for funding future garbage collection and recycling services.
Council members have set a Sept. 8 date for a public hearing, and a likely final vote, on the long anticipated switch away from paying for trash collection and recycling services via general taxation.
Complaints of incomplete and missed trash collections have hounded Arlington’s new solid waste contractor in its first few days of service.
Bates Trucking and Trash Removal, which replaces longtime county contractor American Disposal Services, began collecting trash, recycling and organics from Arlington single-family homes this month.
The contractor that collects trash at Arlington’s single-family homes is changing in the coming weeks.
However, county officials say there will be no substantive changes to existing collection services.
Falls Church is considering changes to trash and recycling services, but city leaders say a voter referendum is unlikely.
The changes could decrease the financial burden on some property owners while increasing fees for single-family homeowners.
The ad-hoc task force studying trash collection options in Falls Church continues to refine ideas as a key deadline draws ever nearer.
With two meetings down and two more to go, the goal is to now “get closer to a path forward,” said Deputy City Manager Andy Young, who is chairing the panel.
In just a few months, Falls Church leaders are hoping to reach a final decision on whether to shift how they fund city trash collection.
City Council members on Monday directed City Manager Wyatt Shields to set up a task force on the issue and come back to Council members by Aug. 4 with recommendations.
Falls Church City Council members appear as divided as ever on how costs for trash collection in single-family neighborhoods should be funded.
At a Monday work session, Council members split almost down the middle on whether to shift to a fee-for-service model or to stick with funding weekly trash services through the city. More specifically, they are still debating whether they can work out details in the few weeks remaining before the city’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget is due for adoption.
Bad news if you receive Arlington County’s trash collection service on Mondays: you’re going to have to wait another week.
With snow expected to continue accumulating Monday night, the Dept. of Environmental Services announced this evening that trash collection for Tuesday through Friday customers will be pushed back a day, starting Wednesday. Monday customers, meanwhile, will have to keep piling up their trash bags for another week.
Preparations are well underway in Arlington for a double dose of snow, starting this afternoon.
County crews have been applying salty “brine lines” on local roads over the past 24+ hours, in anticipation of expected snow squalls during the Friday evening commute.
Curbside waste collection will not be happening on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day in Arlington, but Christmas tree pickup should be right on time.
With both holidays falling on Wednesdays this year, Wednesday routes collecting trash, recycling and organics will be pushed back to Thursday for the next two weeks. Thursday routes will take place on Friday and Friday routes will happen on Saturday.
The westbound lanes of Langston Blvd were blocked during the morning commute today due to a potentially serious crash.
A preliminary investigation indicates that a garbage truck struck an adult pedestrian around 8:48 a.m., while turning onto Langston Blvd along the busy artery at N. Ottawa Street, according to Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage.
Arlington residents can drop off old electronics, household hazardous materials and small metal items next Saturday at a biannual collection event.
The Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) will take place from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Wakefield High School (1325 S. Dinwiddie Street). Accepted materials include automotive fluids, batteries, fluorescent tubes, pesticides, toner cartridges and paint products.
