A month after select Austin residents received their green compost bins to expand the city’s composting pilot program, the time has come to assess the success of the program’s reception. On Nov. 8, Emlea Chanslor, Austin Resource Recovery acting division manager, came to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission meeting to present preliminary findings from the […]
Austin Resource Recovery
Formerly Solid Waste Services. The department in charge of handling solid waste disposal, recycling, and curbside composting for the City of Austin.
Posted inResources
Will city composting ever make it to multifamily residences?
Some people in Austin saw a new, green compost bin waiting at the curb when they arrived home from work this week. However, although the city of Austin’s single-family residence composting program is entering its next phase, the next question that needs to be answered is how to include multifamily residences in the initiative. At […]
Posted inAustin
Austin helping cities hit by Hurricane Harvey
City Council unanimously approved mutual aid agreements with the cities of Houston and Victoria at a special called meeting on Tuesday in the wake of devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Mayor Steve Adler and Council members Leslie Pool and Greg Casar were attending to other business. As of Monday night, a city official said there were […]
Posted inParks
Whose job it is to provide recycling in Austin parks?
Austin’s Universal Recycling Ordinance mandates that by Oct. 1, all commercial properties in Austin will be required to provide recycling. However, open spaces, including public parks, are not included in the current ordinance, which leaves the Parks and Recreation Department wondering how it will provide recycling to the 20,000 acres that it manages. For Fiscal […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council to consider changes for waste disposal contracts
A series of recommendations made by a City Council working group seeks to address concerns from environmentalists and private waste haulers about how the city chooses the companies it pays to pick up and dispose of waste generated by its own employees and departments, from wastepaper bins at City Hall to giant piles of sludge […]
Posted inResources
Study offers a window into the lives of recyclers
Members of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission embraced the results of a six-month study intended to reveal the recycling habits of Austinites at their most recent meeting. Emlea Chanslor, Austin Resource Recovery public information officer, presented the study’s results. She said one of the more important findings indicated that knowledge of what can be recycled […]
Posted inResources
Council approves composting contract despite Texas Disposal Systems objections
City Council approved a contract Thursday to dramatically expand the city’s curbside organics collection and composting program. The new contract builds upon the pilot program that has been in place for nearly four years. Under that program, Organics By Gosh, a local composting firm run by a husband-and-wife duo, processed organic waste collected from the […]
Posted inCity Council
Council OKs waiver of anti-lobbying ordinance
City Council on Thursday approved a temporary waiver of the city’s anti-lobbying ordinance for companies and individuals who wish to talk to the Council working group on solid waste issues. The vote was 7-1-1, with Council Member Ellen Troxclair voting no, Council Member Ora Houston abstaining and Council members Greg Casar and Alison Alter absent […]
Posted inResources
Council denies controversial waste disposal contract
City Council voted unanimously last week to kill a garbage collection contract after outcries from both environmentalists and waste hauling companies that claimed they would be hurt by the proposed deal between the city and Republic Services, a Phoenix-based waste disposal firm. Council’s decision followed a recommendation by the Zero Waste Advisory Commission earlier this […]
Posted inResources
ZWAC rejects Republic contract renewal again
In a bit of bureaucratic acrobatics during its Feb. 8 meeting, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission voted to rescind a November recommendation against the proposed renewal of the Republic Services solid waste collection services contract for city facilities, so that it could recommend against it again with updated rationale. City Council will consider that updated […]
Posted inResources
ZWAC approves organics processing contract with lackluster contingency plan
In line with City Council’s plans to expand curbside compost collection, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission voted at its Feb. 8 meeting to approve staff’s recommendation of Organics By Gosh, the only bidder on the request for proposal released by Council last year, for a 36-month, $1,510,000 contract to provide additional organics processing services. The […]
Posted inCity Council
Curbside textile recycling continues – for now
In the wake of protests from nonprofits including the Salvation Army, Goodwill and the Assistance League of Austin about the impact curbside recycling of textiles is having on their businesses, City Council on Thursday directed Interim City Manager Elaine Hart to come back to the dais within 30 days with ideas on how the city […]