Austin again will be sticklers for stickers when it comes to extra bags of trash, starting next week, officials said.
Fees that were waived for Austin Resource Recovery customers because of the coronavirus pandemic will be reinstated Monday, now that the Austin City Council voted to remove the fee waiver, the city said in a written statement.
Austin Resource Recovery customers can buy excess garbage stickers at grocery stores for $4 each, plus tax. Without the sticker, customers will be charged $9.60, plus tax, for each additional trash bag set out with their trash carts, officials said.
Extra recycling will continue to be collected at no extra cost and can be put in a cardboard box or any other reusable container next to the blue cart.
Recycling should be loose and dry in blue carts and customers should consider using paper bags or BPI-certified compostable bags for compost collection.
Austinites with hard-to-recycle items like Styrofoam, plastic film or hazardous household waste will be able to drop them off again at the Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center next week.
Drop-offs can be made by appointment only, officials said. An appointment can be scheduled by calling 512-974-4343. The center is located at 3810 Todd Lane in Southeast Austin.
The center was closed because of the pandemic.
“Due to unprecedented changes brought about by COVID-19 earlier this year, we understood most households would be generating extra trash,” said Austin Resource Recovery Director Ken Snipes. “We hope this effort has provided relief for our customers during these uncertain times.”
With the pandemic, many Austinites began working and learning from home to help stop the spread of the virus, causing an increase in the amount of trash, recycling and compost being tossed.
Austin Resource Recovery provided data for tons of trash, recyclables and compost collected between March 25, 2019, and May 17, 2019. Because calendar dates for trash pickup can vary from year to year, the comparable data from this year were collected between March 23 and May 15.
Trash increased 8.8% from 2019 to 2020, according to the data.
Recycling and compost numbers jumped even higher with a 14.13% increase in recycling and a 22.5% increase in compost, according to the data.
