Resource Recovery Facility Fees

Minimum Charge (up to 500 Lbs)......................... $17.00
Tipping Fee ..........................................................$69.00 per ton

Construction and demolition debris are NOT collected at this site. Please contact local waste haulers for acceptability at their sites or contact a local nonprofit organization, such as Habitat for Humanity, if the items are usable.

What is a Resource Recovery Facility (RRF)?

The RRF is a waste to energy facility that combusts municipal solid waste in order to create steam to heat and cool the James Madison University campus.  Refuse from the city, the county, and the surrounding municipalities is brought to the facility. The RRF is permitted to burn 200 tons of waste a day, creating 57,000 lbs of steam an hour, which heats and cools the entire CISAT side of campus, as well as heats the Convocation Center, UREC and the west side of campus.  Trash is considered by the Federal Government to be a renewable resource, and in the city’s case, this means that nonrenewable resources such as natural gas and oil can be saved.

Another major advantage provided to the region comes in the amount of saved space in the Rockingham County Landfill.  The residual ash that remains after combustion is decreased by 70% in mass and 90% in volume.  This means that the landfill will have a longer life-span, which leaves less of an impact on the environment.

How long has the City owned and operated RRF?

The original Resource Recovery Facility was constructed and put into operation in 1982.  To keep up with the growing trash flow from the area and changing environmental regulation, the City decided to increase the production capacity of the facility from 100 tons a day combusted to 200 tons a day in 2004.  This also helped the City keep up with the steam needs of JMU’s rapidly expanding campus.

In addition to increasing production capacity, the City gained the opportunity to install some of the newest state of the art emission control technologies.  The City is working closely with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to ensure that the emissions from the RRF meet all State and Federal guidelines.

The Harrisonburg Resource Recovery Facility will continue to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to reduce our refuse.