{"id":196513,"date":"2026-03-09T10:31:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/196513\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:31:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:31:42","slug":"austin-has-saved-more-than-180000-with-bulk-trash-changes-city-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/196513\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin has saved more than $180,000 with bulk trash changes, city says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year after the city of Austin moved its bulk and brush pick-up to on-demand collection, officials say they have saved more than $180,000 and improved customer service. <\/p>\n

The city has continued to look for ways to increase efficiency and cut down on costs, especially as it deals with budget constraints<\/a>. Adjustments to the collection program is one of many changes that include restructuring Austin police staffing<\/a> and closing the Recycled Reads<\/a> bookstore. <\/p>\n

Previously, Austinites who wanted to get rid of household furniture or large branches would have to wait until their designated pick-up date when neighborhood curbs would fill with sofas, patio furniture and mattresses or stacks of brush and tree limbs. Customers were limited to two brush and two bulk pick-ups a year. Now, residents can call to schedule the pickups. <\/p>\n

Amy Slagle, assistant director for Austin Resource Recovery, said the old system was inefficient because it meant crews would drive every single street looking for materials to collect.<\/p>\n

“There may be streets with nothing on it and then we encounter streets where the set outs are very heavy so that would create additional work hours in the day,” she said. “And then having to go back to check those areas for set outs created additional fuel costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Michael Minasi<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

A machine used by Austin Resource Recovery staff picks up brush debris outside a home. <\/p>\n

Slagle said saving money was a driving point for switching to on-demand service, but the city also wanted to create a better customer experience.<\/p>\n

“Customers when we were coming through for brush or bulk [said] it wasn\u2019t always convenient,” she said. “People were out of town so they would miss the collection. So on-demand gave them the flexibility to schedule it at their convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saving money and cutting waste<\/p>\n

City data shows <\/a>that since implementing the change in January 2025, more than 73,000 on-demand appointments were made, a majority of those for bulk pickup.<\/p>\n

As a result, the city says it has saved tens of thousands of dollars. <\/p>\n

“We had about $91,000 in overtime cost reduction between the two programs,” Slagle said. “Then around an $11,000 savings in fuel between brush and bulk [pick-up.] We also had about $86,000 in landfill costs that we avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Michael Minasi<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

Broderick Hannah, a crane operator with Austin Resource Recovery, uses a crane to pick up brush debris.<\/p>\n

The landfill savings could mean people are being more conscientious about tossing their belongings or they may not know about the new on-demand service, Slagle said. The city says it is working to on increasing messaging about the change.<\/p>\n

The move to on-demand pick up has also allowed the city to save items from the landfill and repurpose them.<\/p>\n

Donald Hardee, who helps manage the city\u2019s diversion facilities for Austin Resource Recovery, said the city is piloting a new program aimed at rehoming furniture and other household items for people transitioning out of homelessness. <\/p>\n

Hardee said the city now has a better idea of what furniture pieces people usually get rid of and what can be given a second life.<\/p>\n

“Furniture is a big item, literally in a landfill,” Hardee said. “So the more of that sort of material we can keep out there the better we do toward our zero waste goals.” <\/p>\n

Austin wants to divert 90% of waste away from landfills by 2040 \u2014 a goal it is behind on.<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A year after the city of Austin moved its bulk and brush pick-up to on-demand collection, officials say…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,77720,77721,134,133,77722,77723,77724,77725,10533,77726,3759],"class_list":["post-196513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-brush-pick-up","tag-austin-bulk-pick-up","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-austin-on-demand-collection","tag-austin-recycle","tag-austin-resource-recovery","tag-austin-trash","tag-austin-tx","tag-austin-zero-waste-goals","tag-city-of-austin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}