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For all the avid recyclers out there who are suffering from multiple blue bin clutter, good news is on the way. The City of Austin's Solid Waste Services Department has announced a new program that will replace the blue bins with 90-gallon carts that can be filled with all recyclables, including new items like cereal boxes.
The new recycling plan, set to begin in October and rolled out over three months, coincides with Austin's recent announcement to create a zero-waste plan. The 32 year strategy aspires to reach some lofty goals including plans to reduce the garbage we send to landfills by 20 percent per capita by 2012. The new carts were tested in a pilot program for over 5,000 homes which ultimately increased the amount and frequency they recycled. According to the Statesman:
Under the new system, recycling collection will occur once every two weeks, instead of weekly, which is expected to lead to savings on gasoline and reduce harmful emissions. Also, rather than workers lifting recycling bins manually, newly outfitted trucks will pick up the carts and dump the recycling inside. "We'll be able to recycle more stuff, and we'll be able to pick the equipment up without literally hurting the backs of our crews," Mayfield said. "We're going to be getting more (recycling) at one time, and we're hoping to have the trucks on the streets less."
Streamlined facilities, less congestion on the streets, and more user-friendly carts - sounds like a recycling dream come true!
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Proof is in the pudding as far as single-stream goes - can end up being a cost disaster; and then we're worse off because they just end up throwing stuff away behind the scenes.
does this mean the New Dense Austin a.k.a. the thousands of apartments, condos, and townhomes will have a recycling option offered to them by the city???
help! we're all wrapped up in contract dumpster red tape.
So instead of one large can in my garage I have to find space for a second one? Well at least the size of the can will discourage people from stealing it like they did my blue bin 2 years ago.
Knowing Austin Utilities they will probably jack up our costs to cover the larger containers.
My home was part of the pilot program. I'm not sure what it really means in terms of behind the scenes costs and trickery; I haven't looked into it yet. All I know is that it is sooooooooo much easier to recycle with the large bins. I was never into it whole heartedly with the blue bins. I'll admit it. I'm just lazy. If this program can get more lazy asses like me to recycle, then hopefully the good will outway the bad.
lownotes, the problem is that unless they solve some tricky issues with single-stream, they end up throwing away a lot more recyclables in practice.
lukeradford, the dumbest thing this city ever did was decide that multifamily and office should be able to / forced to contract out to private haulers - which then destroyed economies of scale for us. Really really stupid - but that's why there's hardly any recycling outside of single-family, because until recently they didn't require any at all, and even now it's just for very large complexes and only like 4 things off a long list, which most haulers satisfy by the "4 kinds of paperish stuff" dodge.
I usually have more recycling than trash. This is great news.
This is so great. I can't wait for the big green bin that will collect yard waste and kitchen waste for making compost.
That's right Shilli! Throw your Statesman in the trash, err, recycling!
Nice for homes, but what about lowly apartment renters like myself? Current rules mean the vast majority of complexes skate on having to provide recycling … This is prolly addressed in the whole zero waste plan, but I'm feeling too lazy to leaf through it all right now …
Wells, there has been some noise about finally bringing in non-huge apartment complexes, but I'll believe it when I see it - recycling is a money-loser when they don't get to charge for trash pickup; and I don't see them chomping at the bit to take that business over from the private haulers.
I guess I'll avoid getting into what a TOTAL SCAM recycling is, generally, and offer that (aside from glass and aluminum) we need to ditch all current modes of packaging and opt for stuff that is either 1. annually compostable 2. readily reusable in some function and/or 3. returnable for a signifigant redemption.
There are a ton of new plastics made from corn. And Berlin, for example, has an impressive system of recycling that basically hinges of a deposit of something like 25 cents per bottle, plastic or glass. (Actually, so does most of Europe.)
Short of a new plague, humanity is going to keep growing, and landfill space is finite. Trying to improve the current recycling mode is just damage control, and not, in and of itself, a step forward.
The recycling plan for the city of Sacramento has always intrigued me. The citizens throw everything away, and then the trash gets hauled to the county prison (Folsom) where the prisoners clear out all that is salvageable and recyclable.
I've had friends spend more than a few nights in Del Valle, and they spent their time sitting on their hands doing mostly nothing.
I shot a man in Buda just to separate glass from plastics.
Are the blue bins recyclable?
Mr. Michael,
You can go to a fire station with one of your utility bills (to demonstrate residency) to pick up another recycling bin for free.
Glad to hear the new program will include pressboard. The current program doesn't recycle this material, which most of my neighbors don't seem to understand, judging by all the pizza boxes, 12-pack boxes, etc. you can see in their bins.
Seth
Of course not, benj. They belong in the North Pacific Gyre.
I'm looking forward to bigger bins. We recycle more than we throw away. I, like some of the commenters, would love a compost bin or regular pick up or something. We compost in our back yard but it's full now :(
As for the person recommending some alternative packaging...I totally agree, but corn is not the way to go...at least not the methods that take away from food source for the 3rd world.