RSWA was formed in 1990 as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide for the transportation and final destination of solid wastes and recyclable/reusable materials from the County of Albemarle, City of Charlottesville and the Town of Scottsville. Under the 1990 agreement, RSWA can operate convenience centers at its facilities, but responsibility for all other collection programs were retained by the County, City, and Town. The Authority operates three facilities in the Charlottesville / Albemarle area:
The Authority also has a contract with Allied Waste Services (AWS) which provides for the use of AWS’ solid waste transfer station in Zion Crossroads.
In recent years, public use of the Authority’s facilities has reached capacity, and the current local government funding mechanism to support the Authority’s operations has become a source of disagreement.
The Authority is actively seeking community input in order to plan any service expansion and thus has undertaken this strategic planning process, which invites the public to engage in conversations about the challenges the Authority faces and assist in developing a shared vision for future RSWA facilities and services. The Authority believes there are proven practices in its industry that can improve the quality of services to this community, but the Authority realizes such practices can only succeed to the extent that they are accepted by the community and the local governments. The local governments have expressed a desire that RSWA’s strategic plan results in services that are financially self-supporting.
To assist in the process, the Authority has contracted with solid waste management consultants Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc., assisted by Draper Aden Associates.
Our consultants' tasks include conducting a critical review of the Authority’s facilities and services, interviewing stakeholders, surveying residents, and comparing solid waste systems here with those in counties and cities of similar size and with similar demographics. Draper Aden Associates will conduct the site plan and engineering analysis. As a part of this work, our consultants will benchmark the solid waste management services available in our community against three other communities in Virginia (Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, and Williamsburg) as well as two university communities outside the state (Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Ann Arbor, Michigan).
The Authority held two "Community Meetings" on November 15 and December 4, 2007, during which residents learned about the consultants' findings and provided comments and input. Information about these meetings can be found on the Community Meetings page of this website.
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