Austin Zero Waste Alliance (AZWA) Monthly Meeting

Hello Zero Wasters—

This Wednesday, August 28, will be the monthly meeting of the Austin Zero Waste Alliance (AZWA). Right now we are in a major effort to press the City of Austin to actually enforce recycling ordinances already on the City’s books.  The first phase of the Universal Recycling Ordinance went into effect in October of last year, and all apartment complexes with 75 or more units and office buildings with 100,000 square feet or more are supposed to be offering comprehensive recycling options to their tenants.  Many big apartment complexes and big office buildings are not obeying the law, many have failed to file the required recycling plans and the City has said they won’t enforce the law for an entire year..  They have not even budgeted staff to enforce the law.

When laws are passed on individuals or small businesses we rarely get a year to get with the program; but big landlords are getting special treatment while valuable recyclable materials are going into the trash and our Zero Waste plan is threatened.  This is unacceptable, and the Austin Zero Waste Alliance has been organizing to get real enforcement of this important ordinance.  We will be discussing next steps at the upcoming meeting, with a big opportunity for a display of concern two weeks after our meeting.

We will also discuss our efforts to press the City to allow food trucks to compost and recycle, our new engagement with Austin ISD and other efforts from our members and allies to eliminate waste in the City of Austin.  Come out and be a part of the change we need to see in Austin!

If you have questions, suggested agenda items or just want the quickest, most updated information about local Zero Waste happenings, please contact us on the AZWA Facebook page.