When you walk into the City of Austin Offices of  Resource Recovery, you can’t help but be impressed with this hardworking team. Everywhere you look you see evidence of their mission to recover and recycle material. The City of Austin has been a CDRA member for over a decade and when I asked them about it, they said that it was one of their best resources to expand their knowledge and understanding about recovering construction and demolition material. The City of Austin’s program started in October of 2013 when Austin passed an ordinance mandating  general contractors to reuse or recycle at least 50% of the construction and demolition debris from affected projects.  Alternatively, they can landfill less than 2.5 pounds of debris per square foot of floor area.

Like any ordinance or policy mandating diversion, it does not happen on its own. The team from the Office of Resource Recovery have worked over the past 12 years to educate and enforce this policy which includes going out to jobsites to observe how contractors are diverting the material onsite. Tied to the building permit, their office is made aware of when projects start, how they are progressing and when they end. Their program is going so well that it has become a model for other municipalities to follow. If you would like more information about the City of Austin’s Office of Resource Recovery, they can be reached at austinrecycles.com.