In 1989, the Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation which set the following recycling rates for communities:

10 percent by December 1991, 15 percent by December 1993 and 25 percent by 1995.  Each county, city, town or regional authority was required to establish recycling programs that would meet these goals.The statutory recycling rate of 25 percent continues today for many Virginia localities, but legislation introduced in 2006 provides for a two-tiered recycling mandate - 15% and 25%.  Localities or regions (called Solid Waste Planning Units or SWPUs) with population densities less than 100 persons per square mile or with an unemployment rate 50% higher than the statewide average now qualify for a 15% mandated recycling level, with all others remaining at the 25% recycling mandated level.

SWPUs that meet the 15% mandated recycling rate criteria for CY 2011 reporting

Regulations for the Development of Solid Waste Management Plans (9 VAC 20-130-10 et seq.) require that Regions as well as each city, county, and town not part of a designated Region in the Commonwealth develop and maintain solid waste management plans. Section 9 VAC 20-130-120 B& C of the Regulations requires that a minimum recycling rate of 25% of the total municipal solid waste generated annually in each city, county, town, or Region be maintained. Note that with the 2006 legislation, the regulations were revised to include the 15% mandated recycling level for qualifying SWPUs.  It also requires that the plan describe how this rate shall be met or exceeded and requires that the calculation methodology be included in the plan. Section 9VAC 20-130-165 D establishes that every city, county, and town in the Commonwealth, or solid waste management planning region (now SWPUs) shall submit to the Department of Environmental Quality by April 30 of each year, the data and calculations required in 9 VAC 20-130-120 B&C for the preceding calendar year. These annual submittals are the basis for establishing the state Recycling Rate in Virginia each year.  Recycling Action Plans, or RAPs, may be a required part of the solid waste management plan if the SWPU falls below its mandated recycling rate.

Calendar Year 2011 Annual Recycling Rate  recycling rate for Virginia was 43.5 %, which included credits for solid waste reused, non-MSW recycled, recycling residues, and source reduction programs.  Most of the highest recycling rates historically were experienced by programs in the urban areas of Virginia. They included:

• Richmond Area
• Northern Shenandoah Valley
• Northern Virginia
• Hampton Roads/Tidewater
• Roanoke Area
• Lynchburg Area
• Fredericksburg Area
• Waynesboro-Staunton-Harrisonburg
• Charlottesville-Albemarle 

2009 Annual Recycling Rate Report

 Historical Recycling Rate Data (1991 - 2009)

• 2011 - 43.5%
• 2010 - 40.5%
• 2009 - 38.6%
• 2008 - 38.5%
• 2007 - 38.5%
• 2006 - 38.4%
• 2005 - 32.2%
• 2004 - 29.8%
• 2003 - 30.3%
• 2002 - 36.8%
• 2001 - 37.8%
• 2000 - 32.9%*
• 1995 - 35.0%
• 1993 - 33.4%
• 1991 - 19.7%

*Voluntary Report - Recycling Rate reporting was not required in Virginia from CY 1996 until CY 2001.