The City of Austin is committed to a zero waste goal to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90% by the year 2040. The diversion rate at the end of fiscal year 2021 was 41.96%. You can learn more in Austin Resource Recovery's 2021 Annual Report.
Zero waste is a philosophy that goes beyond recycling, to focus first on reducing trash and reusing products and then recycling and composting the rest. Zero waste recognizes that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and everything is a resource for something or someone else.