Austin Resource Recovery

The Austin Brownfields Revitalization Office (ABRO) helps community-oriented developers address environmental obstacles to fulfill property redevelopment goals. We offer no-cost environmental site assessments.

Austin ReBlend is a 100 percent post-consumer, reblended flat paint (with low VOCs) made from paint collected at the Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center.

Austin has a goal of reaching zero waste by 2040. To help meet this goal, the City of Austin requires multifamily properties to provide their residents and staff with convenient access to composting collection, effective October 1, 2024. This includes apartments, non-state dorms, condos, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

The Construction and Demolition (C&D) Recycling Ordinance requires affected construction and demolition projects to divert construction and demolition debris from the landfill. General contractors must reuse or recycle at least 50% of the construction and demolition debris from affected projects.  Alternatively, they can landfill less than 2.5 pounds of debris per square foot of floor area. To prove compliance, the general contractor must submit the tons of debris reused or recycled and the tons landfilled in a recycling report.

The Curbside Composting Collection Program collects food scraps, yard trimmings, food-soiled paper and natural fibers, and converts them into nutrient-rich compost. Because materials are processed in a commercial composting facility, extremely high temperatures are reached, allowing Austinites to compost items like meat, dairy, seafood and bones that typically cannot be composted in a backyard. This program is part of the City of Austin’s zero waste goal to divert 90% of materials from landfills by 2040. 

Austin Resource Recovery collection staff will remove dead animals from the public right of way within two business days of notification.

Don’t throw away your holiday tree; give it another life by recycling it! Starting December 26, City of Austin curbside customers can recycle their Christmas and holiday trees by leaving them at the curb on their regular collection day. All other residents can drop trees off at Zilker Park on December 28, January 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) is conducting a pilot program to gather information about household hazardous waste (HHW) collection in the City of Austin. This program began in 2022. While this pilot program was initially being tested on all Austinites in City Council Districts 4 and 10, as of October 1, 2024 the program will no longer include large multifamily properties and will only be available to ARR's curbside customers in those districts.

The City of Austin requires commercial composting collection at all multifamily properties, effective October 1, 2024. The Austin City Council approved the amendment to the Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) in September 2023. 

Beginning in early 2023, Austin Resource Recovery is conducting a pilot program to gather information about on-call brush collection in the City of Austin. This program will be tested in a limited area and will allow the City to gauge the usability and benefits of on-call brush collection as an alternative to the current bi-annual scheduled collection customers receive. 

Residents in the pilot area will still receive the same large brush collection service they always have, but they will choose when their collections take place rather than being given a collection schedule.

Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) is changing how it offers bulk and brush collections to residential customers, which include single-family homes up to fourplexes in Austin. Beginning in January 2025, the collections will move from predetermined biannual schedules to an on-demand service.  

Household hazardous waste (HHW) collection will also be launched as an on-demand service citywide in January.

Each service address will be able to schedule up to three collections per service every calendar year. Collections will then reset at the beginning of the next year. 

Plastic waste is problematic for many reasons.  The City of Austin signed a global commitment in 2018 aiming to create a circular economy for plastic by rethinking how we make, use and reuse plastic.  

Election waste can include campaign signs, printed materials, single-use promotional items and campaign event waste. Austin residents, campaign staff and volunteers should consider ways to minimize election waste by recycling or properly disposing of campaign materials, which helps divert items from the landfill. Properly disposing of these materials and/or offering reusable promotional items can help Austin move closer to zero waste.

Austin has a goal of reaching zero waste by 2040. This means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90%. Residents of multifamily properties (apartments, dorms, condos, assisted living facilities and nursing homes) can help by reducing the trash you create, recycling, composting, and reusing or donating items.

Special events within the City of Austin are required to submit waste management information as part of the Special Events Ordinance. Get information about obtaining a special event permit.

Austin Resource Recovery provides curbside collection of recycling to single-family households up to four-plexes in Austin. Place mixed paper, hard plastic (no bags), metal and glass directly in your blue recycling cart; no sorting is required!

The Soil Kitchen was an annual event in Austin, Texas, that provided a free opportunity for food growers to test what is in their soil. Soil testing helps food growers know what nutrients their soil may lack and if harmful heavy metals are present. The final Soil Kitchen event was held March 4, 2023 at Givens Recreation Center.

Austin Resource Recovery customers receive two curbside large brush collections per year.

The Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) supports Austin’s zero waste goal. The ordinance requires:

• Commercial business owners and multifamily properties to ensure that all commercial tenants, multifamily residents and employees have access to recycling.

What Do I Do With is a guide to recycling, reusing, composting and more! City of Austin residential curbside customers may wonder what do with unwanted items. Search this list to answer those questions. Other Austinites and businesses can consult Earth911.com for additional resources and information.

Austin and Travis County residents can drop yard trimmings and large brush at Austin Water’s Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant (2210 FM 973, Austin, TX) 8 a.m.– 3 p.m., Monday–Saturday. 

The material will be composted and made into Dillo Dirt.

Zero Waste Block Leaders (ZWBLs) are engaged residents who are passionate about sustainability and zero waste. They offer their time and knowledge to their friends, families and neighbors. They share information about recycling, composting, repurposing and repairing.

The City of Austin’s Zero Waste Event Rebate is an incentive for organizers to make their outdoor events more sustainable and help reduce the amount of trash sent to area landfills. Earn up to $750 in rebates to expand or improve your zero waste program at your next event.