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Chesapeake voters turn down curbside recycling referendum

The referendum is only advisory in nature, so the final decision will still be up to the Chesapeake City Council.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Two years after the City of Chesapeake ended its curbside recycling program, voters were given the option to let city leaders know if they want to bring it back.

However, results of Tuesday night's election showed the referendum to re-establish curbside recycling failed,  62% to 37%. Provisional ballots are outstanding, and election results still need to be certified before becoming official.

In 2022, the City of Chesapeake ended its curbside recycling program, leading to the implementation of eight free drop-off sites across the city. The city has seen this switch as generally positive, citing the reduced cost incurred by the city government of roughly $2.2 million, and that it's led to a smaller contamination rate for the materials that are actually recycled. 

In the first year after Chesapeake stopped its curbside service, it collected more than 3,000 tons of recycling debris from the drop sites. 

The referendum on Tuesday's ballot was advisory in nature, so Chesapeake City Council may or may not take action based on the results.

The referendum asked voters:

Should City Council adopt an ordinance imposing a mandatory fee of up to $10 per month on all households that receive City trash service in order to re-establish curbside recycling for those households only?

The question, however, is an advisory referendum. The Chesapeake City Council will still ultimately have the final say on whether it moves forward.

New reelected Chesapeake Mayor Rick West expressed surprise about the results.

"I thought it would be more pretty much an even thing just based on the people I have talked to about the issue," West said. "But I think it's, you know, the people have spoken, we're here to serve them."

In a statement to 13News Now, “Chesapeake Recycles”, an organization in support of bringing back the program, is hopeful the newly elected Chesapeake City Council could find a way for the curbside recycling program quote “reinstated in the next budget cycle and without a fee to citizens.”  

We reached out to every member of the Chesapeake City Council to see what the next plans would be now that voters rejected this non-binding referendum on curbside recycling. As of now, none of them have responded.

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