What you need to know
The on-demand service is a change from the usual predetermined brush and bulk pickup dates that occur twice a year. The household hazardous waste collection is a new service being offered by ARR. Household hazardous waste items include those that have dangerous chemicals or can easily catch fire, such as light bulbs, paint and pool chemicals.
Residents in single-family homes, townhomes and other residential locations up to fourplexes will be able to schedule appointments throughout the calendar year for service. Residents are allotted three appointments for each collection service, which includes brush, bulk and household hazardous waste collections.
The on-demand service does not include multifamily properties with five or more units, as they are serviced by private waste collection companies, ARR marketing supervisor Paul Bestgen said.
The impact
The new on-demand service will allow customers to schedule at their convenience, rather than waiting six months in between collection periods. The service will also prevent brush items, such as branches and tree limbs, from getting in waterways and can reduce wildfire risk, ARR said in a news release.
Customers will have to select which waste they need collecting, allowing ARR to recycle or dispose of materials properly, divert waste from landfills, send out the appropriate vehicles for pickup and ensure safety of the collection crews.
The new collection service puts the city of Austin closer to achieving its zero-waste goals, ARR Director Richard McHale said in a news release.
“By making these services more convenient, we anticipate that we’ll keep more material out of the landfill and continue moving Austin closer to zero waste,” McHale said.
Learn more
The launch of the new on-demand service comes after years of pilot programs for each collection service.
ARR launched a bulk collection pilot program in 2018, focusing on two pickup routes in Central Austin and East Austin. The household hazardous waste pilot began in 2022 in City Council districts 4 and 10, covering North and West Austin. The brush collection pilot started in 2023 focusing on two collection routes.
ARR reviewed feedback from a survey garnering over 3,000 responses to use in the development of waste collection services, according to a news release.
The new service will expand the pilot collection routes citywide to customers in residential buildings up to fourplexes.
For more information, visit www.austintexas.gov/ondemand.
