As anyone who has walked through Virginia’s beautiful rivers, streams, and hiking trails can attest, there is plastic litter everywhere. It damages our waterways, harms our wildlife, and decreases our quality of life. Worst of all, almost all of this would be preventable if Virginia modernized its woefully out-of-date Litter Control and Recycling Fund. 

According to recent research by Clean Virginia Waterways, a statewide non-profit based at Longwood University, the production of plastics has grown 744% since Virginia’s litter tax went into effect in 1976. Plastic production alone is projected to double by 2040. 

Most troubling, single-use plastic containers such as water bottles, soft drinks, and sports drinks like Gatorade comprise approximately 23% of all litter found in Virginia according to 2022 data from the International Coastal Cleanup. However, only soft drinks are included in Virginia’s Soft Drinks Excise Tax as single-use plastic water bottles and similar containers were not in common use in 1976. 

Virginia’s Litter Control and Recycling Fund was created to provide localities with money to fund their environmental cleanup programs and to pay for recycling efforts. These programs involve thousands of volunteers who annually support community clean ups, youth education, and solid waste infrastructure. Most importantly, localities have used the money efficiently and effectively, keeping costs down. 

The program is funded by a flat fee of $20 that retailers, distributors and producers pay yearly. Manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors or retailers of the following products: groceries, beer, soft drinks,and carbonated beverages, which are proven to produce additional litter into our environment, are taxed at a higher rate of $30 annually. This fee was increased for the first time in four decades from $10 and $15 annually, respectively. 

The current system generates $3.2 million in litter tax revenue for environmental cleanup and recycling efforts, yet Virginia’s Litter Control and Recycling Fund generates the lowest amount of revenue per capita of any state using a similar system, according to a Clean Virginia Waterways’ study.

There is strong bipartisan support for efforts to reduce plastics in our streams, waterways, and trails; it’s clear that more must be done.

Virginia has a chance to implement the best practices for litter control and recycling while modernizing our Litter Control and Recycling Fund to meet our 21st century needs.

To stay up-to-date, I have authored a comprehensive study for this year’s General Assembly designed to modernize the Litter Tax to better promote recycling, reduce landfill waste and advance environmental stewardship. In fact, I have been working on this issue with other pieces of legislation since 2019.

Stakeholders from environmental groups, industry, and government will be unified to comprehensively review the Commonwealth’s solid waste and recycling programs. The study will assess what materials are entering our waterways and landfills, and what can be, and frankly, should be better recycled. It will also conduct a study focused on the economic impact that these materials have on all of us when they are not recycled, and what revenue is lost by not properly managing our Litter Control and Recycling Fund. 

The world has changed since 1976, and our litter control efforts need to adapt to reflect that. Back then, the most common material used to make drink containers was aluminum, but today it’s plastic. One of the most important goals of this study is about broadening the types of materials that can be included in the Litter and Soft Drinks Excise Tax to include those that just weren’t conceived of decades ago. Plastic water bottles, energy drinks, and ready-to-drink wine cocktails didn’t exist in 1976, but make up a huge portion of our litter problem today. 

By eliminating barriers to recycling, implementing the best nationwide recycling practices, and broadening the types of materials included, we can modernize and vastly improve our current Litter Control and Recycling Fund without having to raise rates. At the same time, we can increase revenue to the fund that can go to localities which are already spending it wisely, prudently and efficiently. 

We all want a walk in the park or a stroll by the stream to be cleaner for our children than it is for us. To make that happen, we need a Litter Control and Recycling Fund that meets 21st-century needs. By modernizing our recycling system, broadening the base of materials included, and implementing best practices from across the country, we will leave our Commonwealth a cleaner and better place for all our children.

We have already seen some progress toward modernization. Since the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors enacted its  5-cent grocery bag fee in 2022, meant to encourage behaviors that protect our environment and reduce litter, a 2.5% reduction was seen in plastic bags compared to 2022 to 2023 usages, and an even larger 5% decrease from 2023 to 2024. That’s a reduction of almost one million fewer plastic bags used in the first half of 2023, and almost two million fewer plastic bags used in 2024. The real-world impacts of this can be seen by litter clean-up groups throughout Fairfax County who beautify our roadways, parks, and communities.

The ultimate goal is to collect no revenue as we want shoppers to embrace reusable bags and reduce plastic waste. However, any revenue collected from the fee will continue to support vital environmental programs here in Fairfax County. Such programs include: environmental clean-up efforts, pollution and litter mitigation, educational campaigns on waste reduction, and providing reusable bags to those in need.

This success is a testament to the growing commitment of our community to make sustainable choices, even when they may not be convenient. Together, we’re making a difference. Protecting the planet and our local communities is critical to future generations. The commonsense decisions we make now will create a cleaner environment today and into the future.