Why are Invasives in the Trash?

Photo courtesy of Fairfax County Park Foundation

Fairfax County requires yard waste to be placed in paper bags. So why does the Fairfax County Invasive Management Area Program use large plastic bags?

Because the size is needed, and those bags are packed with non-native invasive plants that must be incinerated. Invasives are burned, not composted. Material left curbside in paper bags is turned into mulch. Invasive plants in mulch would spread their seeds. At home, don’t put invasive plants in paper bags for pickup and composting. Trash them.