WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority (VPPSA)’s Board of Directors recently voted to terminate the curbside recycling contract with Tidewater Fibre Corporation (TFC), which will impact residents of James City County, York County, Williamsburg and Poquoson.
According to a release from VPPSA, the decision to terminate the contract is due to “significant performance deficiencies.” This is expected to go into effect on Sept. 30, 2025.
The release states that TFC, who has provided curbside recycling for areas of James City County, York County, Williamsburg and Poquoson since December of 2018, was notified of multiple non-compliance issues and was offered recommendations from VPPSA in February of 2025 for how to achieve compliance. TFC allegedly has yet to address the noncompliance issues, leading to VPPSA to terminating the contract.
“Waste diversion is important for reducing landfill waste and promoting environmental sustainability,” VPPSA Executive Director Jennifer Wheeler said. “However, it is imperative that we conduct this work responsibly. We recognize that terminating our contract with TFC may cause an inconvenience for residents of James City County, York County, Williamsburg, and Poquoson, and we appreciate your patience in this transition. VPPSA is committed to finding recycling solutions that fit the needs of each community and ensure proper compliance and accountability as quickly as possible.”
Some of the non-compliance issues VPPSA cited are listed below:
- Inaccurate weight tracking procedures and records
- Missing records/failure to maintain records for five years
- Commingling of routes, making it impossible to accurately allocate weights
- Inaccurate reports supplied with invoices, resulting in inaccurate billing
- Failure to meet customer service performance standards, indicated by a high number of misses, consecutive misses, and missed special service collections
- High frequency of routes running past normal working hours and rollovers to next-day collections without proper notification
- Increasing amounts of spilled recyclables, oil, and vehicle fluids, some of which are considered hazardous waste materials
- Lack of proper documentation for route sheets, cart counts, or address lists
- Property damage incidents without proper notification to residents
- Failure to complete route audits and waste composition studies
TFC released a statement following the termination, which can be found in full below:
Each locality impacted by the termination has released statements following the decision.
Williamsburg announced there will be no disruptions to its curbside recycling schedule, stating that Republic Services, which currently handles the city’s curbside garbage, will begin curbside recycling on Oct. 1. More information for Williamsburg’s curbside recycling plan can be found here.
James City County announced they are currently working to explore alternate solutions, and are asking for residents to hold their carts until there is more information. If no solution is found, officials said refunds will be issued for the Oct. 1-Dec. 31 payment. More information on James City County’s recycling plan can be found here.
York County also stated they are currently working to explore alternate solutions. For the month of October, residents of York County will be able to place recycling containers for regular trash collection, with contents collected as trash, not to be recycled. Starting on Nov. 1, there will be no further pickups until a solution is reached. More information on York County’s recycling plan can be found here.
In the city of Poquoson, TFC will continue its recycling services as regularly scheduled through the end of November. For more information on Poquoson’s recycling plans, click here.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
