Member Profile: Toby Edwards, VRA President

Toby Edwards is the Regional Litter Prevention/Recycling Program Manager for the Cumberland Plateau Regional Waste Management Authority, a regional partnership of three counties in far southwest Virginia (Buchanan, Dickenson and Russell). He was hired in August 2004 to provide direction, motivation and energy to a region that has been “starved for leadership,” according to Roger Sword, Toby’s supervisor at the authority. Toby “hit the ground running” and has accomplished a great deal in the year and half of his work in the litter prevention and recycling field.

As does everyone working in this industry, Toby and his colleagues in the area have a challenge changing the mindset of the public and public officials. Some officials in the area Toby serves have been quoted in local newspapers as saying recycling programs are failing in other parts of the state and would be unfeasible in their counties because of low demand for recycled products and high cost to operate such a program.

Despite this attitude, Toby has been the spokesman for and leader of the movement to clean up illegal dumpsites, reduce littering and offer new recycling opportunities to the residents of the counties he serves. His work has also spread out to neighboring localities, inspiring a new focus and optimism for waste reduction and recycling in the region.

Professional Accomplishments
In April 2004, representatives of nine counties met for the first Southwest Virginia Litter Summit. At the time, Toby was working for the Tennessee Valley Authority on water quality improvement projects. He became interested in the field of litter prevention and recycling and saw a need for a centralized agency to head up regional efforts. Following the summit, Toby served at Vice Chair of the Southwest Virginia Litter Taskforce. This taskforce has developed a set of recommendations that can be used by the regions decision makers to address the issue of roadside litter and illegal dumping. Toby is again assisting with the 2nd Southwest Virginia Litter Summit to be held on April 17th and 18th in St. Paul Virginia. At this second litter summit, the recommendation will be rolled out to the region!

In August, Toby was hired as the Regional Litter Prevention/Recycling Program Manager for the Cumberland Plateau Regional Waste Management Authority. He immediately began partnering with recycling coordinators and litter control officers in the authority’s member localities offering support for the Assign-A-Highway and Groundhog Camera programs. While these innovative programs had been initiated by others, Toby became one of their biggest advocates. Toby’s most recent accomplishments include the first electronics collection in the southwest portion of the state and a new office paper collection program.

In May of 2005, Toby received his Masters of Science degree in Education from Virginia Tech. Mr. Edwards likes to fish, exploring the history of Southwest Virginia and enjoys the outdoors.