Prince William County, the second-most populous County in Virginia, located about 35 miles west of Washington, DC, officially started construction of a brand-new facility to process yard waste, food scraps, and wood waste in December 2018. Phased construction of the new facility was anticipated to take approximately two years and it was completed in September 2020. On September 16, 2020Prince William County hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the advanced organics management facility.

As per the innovative 20-year public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with the facility’s owner and operator, Freestate Farms, which includes extension options, the facility will recycle more than 80,000 tons of organic waste a year into high-value compost, soil products, and non-synthetic fertilizers. The types of organic material accepted at this new facility are yard waste, pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste. The acceptance of post-consumer food waste expands the types of organic waste previously able to be received by the County and will greatly expand the region’s ability to compost food waste overall.

GBB has been working closely with the County on the technical and economic feasibility study, planning and implementation of the Prince William Renewable Energy Park and on the procurement process for this new state-of-the-art organics management facility. Among the expected benefits of the PPP are the creation of 20-25 jobs, increased organics processing capacity, increased recycling rate, extended landfill life, and setting a solid foundation on which to build a comprehensive County-wide organic waste management program.

Thomas Smith, Freestate Farms, and other members of the Project Team cutting the ribbon together signaling the opening of the facility and an expansion of the types of food waste acceptable by the County, on September 16, 2020.

See this 2-minute Prince William County video of the ribbon cutting ceremony, highlighting the new facility: