Hutto begins program; Pflugerville, Round Rock recycling rising

Residents in Hutto had the opportunity to pull their new, black-and-green 95-gallon carts out to the curb in February with the kickoff of the city's single-stream recycling program.

Hutto joins Pflugerville, which began single-stream in February 2010, and Round Rock, which started the program a year ago in January, as local cities with such programs. Both cities saw significant increases in the amount of materials that people recycled after switching to single-stream.

The City of Hutto is hoping the expanded recycling program will make it easier for Hutto residents to recycle, Hutto Mayor Debbie Holland said, by increasing the accepted recyclable items and having a convenient separate cart on wheels in which people can place materials.

"There's really no reason not to recycle," she said. "If you're going to throw it in a receptacle, just throw it in the right one."

In January 2010, the month before Pflugerville launched single-stream recycling, reports show the city recycled about 51 tons of materials. When the city switched a month later, that number more than tripled to 161 tons. In November 2011, the city recycled 282 tons.

Round Rock saw a similar jump in resident participation when it made the move to single-stream more than a year ago. Utility Director Michael Thane said in 2010, 3.1 percent of the city's total waste was recycled compared with 15 percent now.

"The recycling program is starting to grow," Thane said. "Hopefully, that 15 percent will continue to rise."

Because participation is high and the market for recyclable materials is good, the City of Round Rock collected $91,803 in revenue through September 2011. The city participates in a profit-sharing program with Round Rock Refuse. The city is using the money to give customers a monthly 25-cent credit through all of 2012.

Hutto residents received the new recycling carts in January. Service began for Route A customers Feb. 6 and starts Feb. 13 for Route B.