Prince William County, Virginia, has put a lot of effort into cleaning up roadside trash over the last few years, but county leaders hope people will do better.<\/p>\n
Prince William County, Virginia, has put a lot of effort into cleaning up roadside trash over the last few years, but county leaders hope people will do better.\n<\/p>\n
At a recent board of supervisors meeting, Khattab Shammout, director of Prince William County Public Works, said in 2025, about 167,000 pounds of trash were collected by three county crews.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue on, this is not a one-time thing. You clean the roadway, and in half an hour, it may get dirty,\u201d Shammout said.<\/p>\n
In 2026, the county will have five crews picking up trash and expect to collect closer to 180,000 pounds of wrappers, bags, cups and all sorts of other things.<\/p>\n
Prince William County also partners with a nonprofit to pick up litter on private property and encourages people to participate in Dumpster Day events, where county residents can drop off trash. According to a county report, about 20 tons of trash total were collected at 12 events in 2025.<\/p>\n
On the recycling front, the Recycling Program Unit connected with over 3,000 community members at more than 35 events in 2025.<\/p>\n
A social media campaign featuring a mascot called Trashy the Racoon<\/a> is also underway. In addition to that, the county plans to connect with local homeowner\u2019s associations, make presentations in schools and explore a placement of a litter prevention campaign message on the county tax mailer.<\/p>\n