Texas Disposal Systems, or TDS, has been named the city of Austin’s only qualified waste processor for major demolition and construction projects.
Materials, including concrete, metal, untreated wood and plastics from Austin construction projects, will be directed to the Construction and Demolition Waste Materials Recovery Facility in Creedmoor, according to a news release.
The framework
The facility, operated by Texas Landfill Management LLC in partnership with TDS, has been operational since January 2025, but achieved third-party certification in April. This makes the facility the only authorized processor in the region for Austin’s 50% construction material diversion ordinance, Rick Fraumann, vice president of sales and growth at TDS, told Community Impact.
To meet the city of Austin’s Qualified Processor standards, projects must comply with requirements verified by Zero Waste Strategies, the only third-party approved by Austin Resource Recovery. According to the release, these standards require:
- Recycling or reusing at least 50% of C&D debris from projects over 5,000 square feet, or
- Limiting landfill disposal to no more than 2.5 pounds of debris per square foot.
The third-party certification found that the facility diverts 67% of materials from landfills and processes and repurposes materials into sustainable, reusable products, such as crushing recycled concrete to make road base or processing wood into compost and wood chips, Fraumann said.
Fraumann said the new designation was “huge.”
“If you're building all these big crane jobs downtown, they have to follow this,” he said. “And if you think about just how difficult it is to call to collect the actual tonnage of everything that's hauled off on the job site—it’s a lot.”
A closer look
The designation also allows the facility to be utilized by builders working on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, projects. To build a LEED-certified project, developers must follow an environmentally conscious framework that applies to all aspects of the project, from the materials chosen to their disposal during construction, according to Fraumann.
“We want builders, construction companies, to have the peace of mind to know if they bring it to our facility, it's going to be handled properly,” Fraumann said. “There's third-party certification and verification, and the maximum amount that can be diverted from the landfill is diverted, and then when it's diverted, it's actually recycled.”
The Creedmoor facility processed 54,000 tons of material last year, but can handle double that amount, Fraumann said. This will conserve landfill capacity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the increased demand for recycled materials in construction, according to the release.
“We’re proud to support the City’s vision by providing innovative solutions that prioritize sustainability and reduce environmental impact. Our Construction and Demolition Waste Materials Recovery Facility brings new life to items construction sites are using and throwing away every day,” said Adam Gregory, executive vice president of post collection and business development at Texas Disposal Systems, in the release.
The background
TDS is one of the largest independently owned solid waste collection, processing and disposal companies in the nation, according to the release.
