AUSTIN, Texas — A new report shows that the City of Austin is nowhere near the "zero waste" goals it made in 2011.
KUT found that the zero waste plan the Austin City Council approved in 2011 has barely improved in the 12 years since the plan was enacted. The initial goal was for more than 90% of trash created by single-family homes in Austin to be diverted to somewhere beside a landfill by 2040.
When the plan was approved by the council, a little over 37% of waste was being diverted from the landfill. It was found that in 2022, only 38% of waste was being diverted – and the City was supposed to be at 75% of waste diverted by 2020.
The report detailed that the City has launched multiple ways for residents to divert trash from landfills, and composting and recycling have been the two most popular. However, none of those ways have seemed to incentivize additional diversion, according to the report.
If people dispose of trash in the recycling bin, the entire bin has to be sent to the landfill. And a recent audit discovered that over 20% of Austin's curbside recycling is contaminated and cannot be recycled.
A reason for having a "zero waste" city is to cut down on greenhouse gases that are created from throwing away things in a landfill that will create more carbon emissions and energy to break down.
One way to increase the percentage of diverted waste items is by educating residents on what and how to recycle and compost, according to the report. In addition to individual choices, policies need to change to help expedite the efforts. State law and other court decisions have halted cities in Texas from banning problematic trash and plastic.
One way the City is attempting to incentivize community members to divert their trash is offering rebates to businesses to stop the usage of disposable plastic items.
Read KUT's full reporton what could be improved to allow for more trash diversion within the city.