Block Leader January 2012

NEIGHBORHOOD SUSTAINABILITY= PARTICIPATION + COMMUNICATION + EDUCATION IN THIS ISSUE: SWS is now Austin Resource Recovery Recycle Your Christmas Tree Free Paint Available to Residents Master Plan Approved

austinrecycles.com

JANUARY 2012

Home Composting Program Grows

SWS BECOMES AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY 2011 has been a year of many exciting changes, most notably of which is the switch to a new name for our department – Austin Resource Recovery.

In October, Solid Waste Services officially became Austin Resource Recovery to better align with our Zero Waste mission and to inspire Austinites to rethink how they view trash and the City’s natural resources.

“Our new name more clearly represents our mission to achieve Zero Waste by providing excellent customer services that promote waste reduction, increase resource recovery and support the City of Austin’s sustainability efforts,” said Bob Gedert, Director of Austin Resource Recovery.

The Department has had many names through the years, and historically, the materials collected were treated as waste.

“We view materials collected as resources that can be recovered for a second life, rather than as trash destined for a landfill,” Gedert said.

We plan to phase in the new name and logo over time to keep transition costs down.

What do you think of our new name? Share your feedback with us at Block.Leader@austinrecycles.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/austinrecycles.

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CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING It’s that time of year again! For Austin Resource Recovery curbside recycling/trash customers, recycling your Christmas tree is as simple as setting it out at the curb. We will collect trees with yard trimmings on regularly scheduled collection days. Trees and yard trimmings are composted to create Dillo DirtTM.

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Curbside Christmas Tree Recycling Guidelines: • All trees 6 feet or taller should be cut in half • Remove all ornaments, decorations, lights and the tree stand • Do not place tree in a “tree bag” before setting on the curb • Only real Christmas trees may be recycled

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Zilker Park Drop-Off Locations: Residents who do not have curbside recycling/trash service can recycle their trees by dropping them off in Zilker Park’s Polo Field from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following dates: • Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 • Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 • Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 • Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

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Christmas trees collected from Zilker Park are recycled into mulch, which is made available free on a first come, first served basis to Austin residents in mid-January.

FREE PAINT AVAILABLE TO RESIDENTS Residents looking to save money when refurbishing their homes now have a free resource – Austin Resource Recovery’s Austin ReBlend paint! Austin ReBlend is a 100 percent post-consumer, reblended flat paint (with low VOCs) made from paint collected at the City of Austin’s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) facility.

Paint accounts for the majority of materials brought to the HHW. Staff inspects paint dropped off by customers to ensure it is suitable for Austin

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HOME COMPOSTING PROGRAM GROWS IN SECOND YEAR Austin Resource Recovery has promoted the home composting rebate program for about two years now, and we are excited to announce that the number of people who attended our free home composting classes more than doubled in the program’s second year.

From October 2010 through September 2011, we taught 1,741 Austinites how to compost at home.

Comparatively, 738 people attended the classes between October 2009 and September 2010, which was the program’s pilot year.

The classes are part of our composting rebate program, which challenges Austinites to complete a free composting class, downsize to a 32-gallon trash cart and purchase a home composting system.

Austin Resource Recovery curbside customers who do these three things are eligible for a rebate of 75 percent up to $75 off the cost of their new home composting system. In addition to receiving the rebate, customers also can save $60 to $200 per year by switching to the 32-gallon trash cart.

ReBlend. The paint is then consolidated, blended, filtered and packed by trained personnel to ensure a quality product. To date, HHW staff has reblended more than 11,000 gallons of paint and distributed paint to more than 600 participants.

Austin ReBlend is available in 5-gallon containers and in two colors, Texas Limestone (off white) and Balcones Canyonland (dark beige). The paint is available to nonprofit organizations for civic projects and the public for individual projects for no charge.

Food scraps and organic materials make up more than 40 percent of the City’s waste stream.

Composting these resources instead of sending them to the landfill reduces costs and helps Austin get closer to its Zero Waste goal to reduce the amount of trash sent to area landfills by 90 percent by the year 2040.

Have you attended a class yet? Check out the schedule of upcoming classes and register to attend at austinrecycles.com. An online class also is available and meets the requirements of the rebate program.

Currently this paint is not available to contractors for commercial uses.

The HHW is located at 2514 Business Center Dr. in Southeast Austin and is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and every Saturday 7 a.m. – Noon.

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CITY COUNCIL APPROVES MASTER PLAN The Austin Resource Recovery Master Plan is a long-term plan for the Austin Resource Recovery Department that projects future activities and services for the next 30 years. Recently approved by the Austin City Council, the Master Plan looks at the Department in its entirety and empowers the Austin community to achieve a drastic reduction in the amount of trash sent to area landfills.

As Block Leaders, you will receive a summary of the Master Plan in the mail in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here are some highlights: • Developing a program called Reuse Austin in which the Department salvages reusable items from bulk collection and partners with reuse and resale organizations to collect and sell them.

• Establishing reuse centers throughout the city to collect a variety of recyclable, reusable and repairable materials, including batteries, motor oil, paint and anti-freeze • Enhancing the Single Stream Recycling Program by accepting additional material types • Transitioning to weekly recycling collection for residential customers • Conducting a pilot program to collect yard trimmings, food scraps and compostable paper at the curb; rolling out a new citywide organics collection program based on pilot program results • Developing and operating a new Household Hazardous Waste Facility in north Austin • Phasing in universal recycling and composting requirements to all waste generators, both residential and commercial, within the City of Austin • Redeveloping land at the closed City landfill for an Eco-Industrial Park, where major remanufacturing facilities are co-located with processors of recycled materials The entire plan is available online at austinrecycles.com.

Questions? Contact swsmasterplan@austintexas.gov

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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: HELP RECYCLE PAINT, BATTERIES AND MORE Want a behind-the-scenes look at how the City of Austin recycles and/or properly disposes of paint, batteries, fertilizer and other household chemicals?

Learn how the Household Hazardous Waste Facility operates while helping unload vehicles on collection day. No training necessary! Austin Resource Recovery will provide Zero Waste Ambassadors with appropriate safety equipment. *Note: Ages 18 and up only.

When: Every Saturday; 8 a.m. to Noon Where: City of Austin Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 2514 Business Center Dr. To participate, email ZeroWaste.Volunteer@ austinrecycles.com or call 512-974-4343.

BLOCK LEADER FOCUS GROUP Want to weigh in on the future of the Block Leader program? We’re scheduling focus groups with Block Leaders for January and February 2012. If you would like to participate, email Block.Leader@austinrecycles.com or call 512-974-1956.

Austin Resource Recovery P.O. Box 1088 Austin, TX 78767 Block.Leader@austinrecycles.com austinrecycles.com facebook.com/austinrecycles 3-1-1