Photos: Prince William Recycles Day

Prince William Recycles Day was held at the Virginia county’s landfill in Manassas on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. The event is meant to awareness about recycling. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William Recycles Day was held at the Virginia county’s landfill in Manassas on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. The event was meant to awareness about recycling. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William Recycles Day has been going on for about 15 years, according to Deborah Campbell, with the county’s solid waste division. This year’s event was held Oct. 15, 2016. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William Recycles Day has been going on for about 15 years, according to Deborah Campbell of the county’s solid waste division. This year’s event was held Oct. 15, 2016. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Family-friendly activities make it fun to learn about the landfill and recycling during Prince William Recycles Day, says Deborah Campbell, with Prince William County’s solid waste division. This year’s event was held Oct. 15, 2016 at the county landfill in Manassas, Va. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Family-friendly activities make it fun to learn about the landfill and recycling during Prince William Recycles Day, said Deborah Campbell of Prince William County’s solid waste division. This year’s event was held Oct. 15, 2016 at the county landfill in Manassas, Va. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William County, Va., converts methane emitted from landfill trash into electricity. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William County, Va., converts methane emitted from landfill trash into electricity. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
About 100 wells on the Prince William County, Va., landfill site capture methane gas, which is converted into electricity. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart) (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
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Prince William Recycles Day was held at the Virginia county’s landfill in Manassas on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. The event is meant to awareness about recycling. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William Recycles Day has been going on for about 15 years, according to Deborah Campbell, with the county’s solid waste division. This year’s event was held Oct. 15, 2016. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Family-friendly activities make it fun to learn about the landfill and recycling during Prince William Recycles Day, says Deborah Campbell, with Prince William County’s solid waste division. This year’s event was held Oct. 15, 2016 at the county landfill in Manassas, Va. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)
Prince William County, Va., converts methane emitted from landfill trash into electricity. (WTOP/Kathy Stewart)

MANASSAS, Va. — On Saturday, a family fun event was held at an unlikely location — Prince William County’s landfill in Manassas, Virginia.

Meant to teach people about recycling, Prince William Recycles Day has been taking place for about 15 years. Deborah Campbell of Prince William County’s solid waste division said the event is tied to “America Recycles Day” on Nov. 15.  She said the county held its recycles day in October because the weather was better and more predictable.

“It’s just a fun event and a way for people to learn about the landfill and about recycling, most importantly,” Campbell said.

There were lots of family- and kid-friendly activities in addition to activities geared toward learning about recycling. Anastasia Morse described the event as “lots of fun.”

“There’s lots of giveaways, lots of fun stuff to do and the kids are learning a lot,” she said. She attended the event with her Girl Scout troop and with her daughter Aria Morse, who is a second-grader. They also attended last year. The best part?

“We actually got to take a tour up on the landfill,” Aria Morse said.

Anastasia Morse said she was impressed that trash was used to generate electricity at the landfill.

“Right, it’s amazing,” Anastasia Morse said.

Sean McLaughlin attended with his wife, two kids and his father.

“It’s a great event promoting recycling,” McLaughlin said.

He attended the event last year and also was impressed that trash is used to generate electricity. McLaughlin said he learned last year that the methane gas given off by the decaying trash is captured and recycled into electricity, which is then sold to the local power grid.

“Yeah, that’s pretty incredible,” he said.

Tom Smith with the county’s solid waste division said the conversion of methane gas into electricity is continuous.There are about 100 wells around the landfill that capture its methane, he said.

He said the county has a partnership with Fortistar, the company that owns and operates the renewable landfill gas to energy plant at the landfill. The energy generated is sold to the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative or NOVEC and powers more than 4,355 homes, Fortistar said in a news release.

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