Thousands of households across Hampton Roads will have their recycling bins inspected over the next two months as part of an effort to educate the public about what they can, and can’t, recycle.

Starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday, recycling taggers gathered at the Food Lion on General Booth Boulevard in Virginia Beach before going out ahead of the city’s recycling trucks. Throughout the morning, they quickly checked recycling bins on curbs for any unapproved items. If the bin was contaminated, inspectors tagged it and left a warning card reminding the resident about what materials are accepted for recycling. If the bin is contaminated during the next pick-up, the cart will not be emptied. 

The warnings were issued as part of the new AskHRGreen program called Feet on the Street. In its first of three phases, the program’s goal is to give the public a better understanding of what can go in recycling bins. When recycling bins are contaminated with non-recyclable materials, it often leads to the entire load being rejected and sent to a landfill, which increases waste.

The goal on the program’s first day was to reach about 4,000 homes in Virginia Beach, according to Katie Cullipher, principal environmental education planner for the Hampton Roads Planning District Committee. The HRPDC administers AskHRGreen, a region-wide public service initiative that aims to help improve public awareness for environmentally friendly behavior.

Residents in five other participating localities — Newport News, Norfolk, Suffolk, James City County and York County — also will receive warning tags in the coming weeks.

According to a memo sent to the Virginia Beach City Council about the program, homes in the city’s Districts 5, 6 and 8 will be used for the program. Funded through $1.96 million from the EPA’s Recycling Education and Outreach Grant, the program comes with no cost to local governments. Cullipher said the team has been working with local public works departments and other recycling partners for about a year to get the program, “like a complex puzzle,” ready for execution.

A tag left by a cart inspector indicating items found that are not meant for recycling bins. As seen Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot)

The team also will collect data on what the most common contaminants are, how often bins are tagged and which areas set out the most recycling bins. This data will be used in later phases to better tailor education efforts and resources for residents who want to recycle more.

“The facilities that process these materials are processing tons and tons per day,” Cullipher said. “They don’t have the ability to open every bin and inspect it first to see: Was this trash? Is this recyclables?”

Cullipher said some of the biggest confusion about recycling surrounds plastics. For example, clamshell containers — such as ones for berries at the grocery store or for restaurant takeout — are a clear plastic similar to single-use water bottles. But while the plastic bottles are accepted in local recycling programs, the clamshell containers are not. Many other pieces of waste may ask consumers to recycle them, but that does not necessarily mean that Hampton Roads recycling collectors can take them, Cullipher said.

“Product packaging is just confusing,” she said. “The labels help to inform us about what that material is, but that doesn’t mean that it’s accepted in our local recycling programs. That’s where education comes in.”

The initiative comes as the Southeastern Public Service Authority, which handles South Hampton Roads cities’ waste disposal, is closing in on a new provider to help improve recycling efforts and prolong the life of the fast-filling regional landfill. Some cities have recently increased waste-disposal fees or done away with curbside recycling altogether as recycling costs have risen.

In the six communities across Hampton Roads under the program, taggers will cover about 32,000 households over the next few weeks. Monday is York County’s day, and Tuesday is for Virginia Beach. The taggers will be in James City County and Newport News on Wednesdays, and Suffolk neighborhoods will be tagged on Thursdays. Norfolk finishes out the week on Fridays.

Cart inspectors Auseanta Holloway, left, and Jeramie Cary share tags while checking recycling bin in a Virginia Beach neighborhood Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot)

Though not every city is being used for the program, Cullipher said the data and resources the team puts together can be used to bolster recycling education across Hampton Roads.

“We’re not trying to penalize people in any way. We’re really just helping people to understand our local recycling programs,” Cullipher said. “We want to remind people about the basics. Paper, bottles and cans are always accepted everywhere.

“We want people to just understand that our local programs are only as efficient as as we are in participating in them. We have to work together to do this right. That’s what this program is all about.”

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com

Originally Published: April 2, 2025 at 6:38 PM EDT