AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s been six months since Austin Resource Recovery changed its bulk trash pick-up rules. The service previously operated on a pre-determined biannual schedule.
Now, it’s on demand and people can schedule collections in advance.
Each service address will be able to schedule up to three collections per service every calendar year, and collections will reset at the beginning of the next year.
People identify which items they set out for collection and ARR sends out the appropriate vehicles and crews.
How is it going?
The department told KXAN it has seen an overall decrease in bulk weight for items going to landfills and an increase in recycled material.
ARR said this new collection process helps the city of Austin reach its goal to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90% by 2040.
On-demand collection is an efficient process for recycling or repurposing bulk items to keep them out of the landfill. By prompting customers to schedule collections when needed and following the set-out guidelines, ARR can effectively divert and recycle more items. ARR recycles all appliances, electronics, metals and rigid plastics picked up through bulk collection.”
Austin Resource Recovery
The new service is also helping financially. According to ARR, it reduced employee overtime costs and they’ve made more money from selling recyclable materials.
ARR said it averages about 1,200 to 1,300 bulk appointments per week. The department said its seen a high demand for bulk collection appointments, but it is keeping up with demand.
Typically, customers can get an appointment within a couple of weeks, but ARR said there may be a longer wait time if demand is higher.
‘People collect for resale’
Cheryl Ward was one of the Austin residents who would look through piles of discarded items put out on the curb for the taking. She described it as a scavenger hunt.
“I tore all the old fabric and the old padding off of it and just redid the top,” Ward said.
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Cheryl Ward said people would drive around and fill up their trucks with things left out on the curb during the bulk pick-up week. (Photo: KXAN) -
Cheryl Ward said people would drive around and fill up their trucks with things left out on the curb during the bulk pick-up week. (Photo: KXAN) -
Cheryl Ward said people would drive around and fill up their trucks with things left out on the curb during the bulk pick-up week. (Photo: KXAN) -
Cheryl Ward said people would drive around and fill up their trucks with things left out on the curb during the bulk pick-up week. (Photo: KXAN) -
Cheryl Ward said people would drive around and fill up their trucks with things left out on the curb during the bulk pick-up week. (Photo: KXAN)
It’s something she and others did when their neighborhood was scheduled for a bulk trash pick-up before the changes.
“It’d be a Monday through Friday, so that Saturday and Sunday, everybody’s putting their things out, and that’s when the trailers, the trailers start coming,” Ward said. “People collect for resale, for fixing. There was a gal that practically furnished her apartment with the furniture that was put out.”
That ritual is now a thing of the past since the changes.
When it comes to finding a home for gently used items, ARR said it plans to use a $4 million grant to open a reuse warehouse to accept furniture donations and furniture picked up during bulk collection.
Those items will then be redistributed to regional nonprofit organizations and used to furnish homes for those transitioning out of homelessness.
Ward said she felt encouraged about that news.
“Austin’s a very growing city, and there’s still a lot of needy people. A lot of these items can be used,” Ward said.