Municipal waste management is an essential job, but it comes with its fair share of risks. With that in mind, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission asked Austin Resource Recovery Department management Wednesday to study and consider ways to improve safety conditions and offer hazard pay to front-line employees. Austin Resource Recovery Director Bob Gedert told […]
City of Austin Zero Waste Advisory Commission
An Austin City Council advisory commission. Its members are charged to “[r]eview and analyze the policies and resources relating to solid waste management in the city and advise council on solid waste management policies and resources.” Formerly the Solid Waste Advisory Commission.
Posted inEnvironment
Plastic bag ban working to an extent, says report
Austin’s single-use bag ordinance is helping residents reduce overall consumption by about 197 million single-use bags per year, but it has had unintended consequences including an increase in the number of thicker reusable bags in the recycling stream. That’s according to a report that Austin Resource Recovery Department Research Associate Aaron Waters presented to the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Resources
Almost half of Austin curbside trash recyclable
Despite the city’s ambitious goal to achieve zero waste by 2040, many Austin residents are sending items to landfills that they could be putting into the city’s blue recycling bins. Austin Resource Recovery Department Director Robert Gedert told members of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission on Wednesday that, according to a recent study, about 44 […]
Posted inCity Hall, Environment, Local Politics, Resources, Texas State Legislature
City orders study on bag ban that state may toss
Amid concerns that state leadership will take steps to limit city ordinances such as Austin’s plastic bag ban, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission has instructed city staff to study the ban in time to send the results to the state legislature. The commission unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday requesting that the Austin Resource Recovery Department […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Ethics complaints could get a clearer path
City Council Member Mike Martinez is working on a resolution that could change how the city deals with ethics complaints against those who serve on its boards and commissions. The changes come after Martinez’s Zero Waste Advisory Commission appointee, Daniela Ochoa Gonzalez, was accused of violating the city’s conflict-of-interest policy by an anonymous person through the Auditor’s […]
Posted inDevelopment, Public Safety
Events ordinance draws criticism
The Austin Center for Events unveiled its revised version of the city’s special event ordinance in front of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission on Wednesday night, drawing both praise and criticism for its new waste management policies. The proposed ordinance would require more than 600 events held each year in Austin — categorized as Tier […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Former commissioner seeks to change city policies in ethics cases
Former Zero Waste Advisory Commissioner Daniela Ochoa Gonzalez, who resigned after accusations of conflict-of-interest violations, is asking the city to reconsider how it does business. Her situation could change how the city deals with ethics complaints against people who serve on its many boards and commissions. The Ethics Review Commission took a first step toward […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Politics, Resources
City Council orders restaurants to compost organic waste by 2018
Austin City Council members Thursday approved changes to city ordinances that will require food service permit holders to begin composting organic waste by 2018. Under the measure, full enforcement of the new rules will not come until a year later. Council members’ actions came over the objections of Skeeter Miller, representing the Greater Austin […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Ethics commission balks, files no charges against former commissioner
The Austin Ethics Review Commission will take no action against former Zero Waste Advisory Commission member Daniela Ochoa Gonzalez for alleged ethics violations. City Auditor Kenneth Mory released an April 18 report accusing Ochoa Gonzalez of violating conflict of interest regulations by discussing and voting on items related to Texas Disposal Systems at three […]
Posted inEnvironment
Commission OKs recycling, composting plan for mobile food trucks
A city panel is working to encourage recycling and composting among Austin’s myriad mobile food trucks. The Zero Waste Advisory Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend amending city code to allow food trucks to use unattached trash receptacles, a practice currently forbidden by the health code. According to the Public Health Services and […]