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This year was a big year for composting in the city of Austin. Last spring, Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) completed the roll-out of roadside composting for all single-family homes that receive their services. Based on a pilot project with 14,000 households in 2010, this was not an easy task. Simultaneously with the celebrations and cheers, the city is focused on taking the next steps towards our zero waste goals as ARR launches the Community Composting Collection Pilot for Apartment Buildings.
Originally planned for March 2020, the pilot of the Community Composting Collection had to pause and shoot together with everyone else with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unexpected onset of winter in February 2021, when the resumption was planned. However, ARR was determined to introduce the pilot program and began rolling out the participating multi-family communities in May 2021. Now, in September 2021, all eight participating municipalities have launched their services for their residents.
Over a period of six months, each of these communities will participate in a composting or organic collection program of their choice, providing feedback to the city and helping inform future policy discussions for multi-family communities. This pilot will allow the city to better understand the unique challenges faced by residents, freight forwarders, employees and property managers through real-world experiences.
Single-family houses are just one of many forms of living in our community. Multi-family communities include apartments, condominiums, dormitories, cooperatives, assisted living facilities, RV parks, homeowners associations (HOAs) with private waste disposal services, and more. In general, any community with five or more units is considered an apartment building. While ARR does not directly serve multi-family communities in Austin, the city has a role in supporting ways for all residents to get food waste from our landfills. The waste produced by these communities is just as important as the waste from single-family homes and businesses in our city. A 2015 study by the city of Austin of the makeup of commercial and multi-family landfills found that 37% of the waste materials in the landfill were compostable. Residents, businesses and the city of Austin must work together to meet our zero waste target by 2040.
If you would like to help advance multi-family composting in our community, here are some steps you can take.
Just because a multi-family community doesn’t have a compost collection program doesn’t mean that compostable waste has to land on the landfill. There are several ways you can start diverting your food waste right away:
Keep an eye out for future updates on multi-family composting in the city of Austin!
Road to Zero Waste offers tips, how-tos, stories, news and inspirational ideas to help you rethink your waste. Follow our blog to learn how you can make a difference and help Austin meet its zero waste goal by 2040. Together, we can all help keep Austin weird, environmentally friendly, and beautiful.
This press release was produced by the City of Austin. The views expressed here are your own.
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