Memo eyes possible polystyrene ban to curb trash in creeks, streams

The Watershed Protection Department wants city leaders to consider instituting a ban on polystyrene fast-food containers as one of a series of possible steps to reduce the amount of trash in local waterways.

An April 10 memo gives City Council members an update on progress related to a 2020 resolution that called for a comprehensive plan to address an increase in the amount of trash accumulating in local creeks and streams, including what was once believed to be the pervasive problem of motorized scooters being discarded in waterways.

The memo details the programs and strategies that have already been implemented with varying degrees of success, including Austin Resource Recovery’s Clean Creeks Program that saw a dedicated team assigned to manually remove trash from creeks and riparian corridors.

Other suggestions for Council to consider include: amending and modernizing city code related to prohibitions and fines for littering; incentivizing businesses to use carryout bags with a minimum amount of recycled content; creating a “trash czar” staff position charged with coordinating city, county and nonprofit resources involved with waste reduction; look at code changes that could lead to use of trash bins designed to reduce overflow; and possibly banning polystyrene or single-use containers in city facilities.

A prior update published last summer found that over a six-month field study of 20 local streams, city crews removed 21 improperly discarded electronic scooters, which staff said in briefings to Council was a lower number than they’d expected. It is believed the low number was due to a combination of reduced fleets of scooters available locally and an improved process for quickly reporting and recovering the devices.

City Council members discussing the 2020 resolution expressed concern over the expected costs of a robust ongoing waste recovery effort for creeks and streams, with some suggesting that fees on scooter companies would be one possible revenue source.

The field study conducted in response to the study covered 110 miles of waterways and found overflowing trash bins, homeless encampments, property management practices and longtime dumping sites were some of the most notable sources of trash that made its way into waterways.

Some of the most common items found included clothing, tents and bedding, toys and recreation items, shipping materials, fencing, office and household supplies, construction materials, medical supplies and more than 500 shopping carts.

The memo also notes that Austin Resource Recovery is in the process of making some final updates to the plan, which is expected to return to Council for consideration sometime this year.

At a September presentation to City Council on the field study and plan, WPD staff said the field study created the first baseline for the city to use in gauging its success in reducing waste in area waterways. WPD staffer Andrew Clamann said while homeless encampments were the most common source of waste in creeks and streams, other categories were found to be more intense and problematic.

“We don’t have a good frame of reference of before and after (the field study) so this is our frame of reference starting (that) day going forward. Although (encampments are) the most frequent source we observed, it was not the most intense,” he said. “Dumping unknown, which means where someone backs up their truck and dumps a whole bunch of garbage out at a culvert or a bridge crossing, was actually the narrowest range with the highest intensity.”

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